Conversations with Brooke

"I have to play loud in here because it will be a hoot." Brooke's reply when I told her to go play quietly in her room while I was putting Luke down for his nap. FYI: she got the word "hoot" from Mark. He uses the word sarcastically when he thinks something will be a pain.

"It's very hard for a little girl to obey and I don't like to." Brooke's response when I told her to go wash her hands in the bathroom and she obviously didn't want to.

Feels Like Home

On Sunday we went to Houston to visit our dear friends the Barrys (aka Mark and Mickey). I met Mickey when Mark and I were newly married and had just started teaching. We became fast friends in and out of school/work and I figure I spent almost as much time at their home as did I at ours. When Mark Glaser was on a trip, I'd pack up and spend the night. They think I went for the stimulating conversation, but really I went for the cooking! Mickey and I would sit on the couch for hours (obviously I had no children then) watching movies, talking, and eating Toll House bake & break cookies.

What was so wonderful about our stay there was that it felt like going home despite the fact that we hadn't been there in two years! What I love about staying at their house is that I know where most everything is and they are so laid back (no doubt from having 3 teenagers or more in their house at any given time) I didn't fret over our kids mess. Some of our most memorable moments from our trip were: Swimming in their pool (twice a day for hours on end), seeing old friends/ co-workers, inhaling Double Dave's pizza rolls, Brooke and Mickey's trip to Libby Lu's, and eating Mickey's signature salad and having dinner with other adults.

On the other hand, what we didn't like was the heat and humidity. It is as they say in the northeast it was "wicked" hot and humid. Imagine steping into one of the tropical exhibits at the zoo, the one where you struggle to breathe and start sweating in minutes... that's Houston. It is unbearable to be outside and not in the water. Mark and I were lukcy when we lived there that we didn't have to play outside with our kids (we left when Brooke was 9 months old).

It was difficult for the kids and me being pregnant to adjust to Central time. Just as our bodies figured it out, it was time to go home. We got up this morning at 3:45 am to get on a flight that left at 6:30 am (our best chance to get home since we fly stand-by). The flight had filled up and we were hoping that people wouldn't show up so we could get seats. God had mercy on us and we all got seats, mostly together. The kids were awesome while traveling considering neither of them are the type to fall asleep on an airplane no matter how exhausted they are. I was never so glad to get home this morning and Mark being the super dad/ husbsand did the laundry, paid bills, and tended our garden while the rest of us took long naps. What a keeper!

Down on the Farm

Yesterday I took the kids to the Winton Woods park by my parent's house. At the horseback riding center they have a little farm called "Parky's Farm" There are animals to pet, ponies to ride, and playgrounds. The only reason I even considered taking them was that the weather has been considerably cooler. Don't get me wrong, I was still sweating by the time we left, but that's to be expected when you're "5 lbs. short of a Buick". We were looking at the goats when a teenager came over and told us that if we come outside, we could pet them. So that's just what we did. Needless to say, my kids were a little afraid of the kids in the goat pen. They did pet them and Luke did manage a smile or two. The best of all was the pony rides. When asked which of the four ponies Brooke wanted to ride, she told the girl the smallest...smart girl . Both Brooke and Luke didn't hesitate as they were hoisted on the ponies. I jokingly told Mark that I see future horseback riders in our future and shouldn't we just get a pony now? (I guess I'll never out grow that girlish dream of owing my own horse.) Even though we live in Kentucky, some how I don't think our homeowners association would approve of a pony (no matter how small) in our backyard!

Mark's Garden

Back in the
beginning
when we started planting our garden in early April it was known as "my garden". However, once Mark got involved... I was out of the picture. He checks on the progress obsessively (I'm sure you can't imagine) and is very faithful at weeding it. He wanted me to call our neighbors (Stephanie sorry I didn't call. I figured you had more important things going on.) to brag that I ate our first raspberry today. It seemed like a good idea when I was barely pregnant for Brooke to see how things are grown in gardens and not grocery stores. Besides, my parents have had a garden for years and we love to admire and pick veggies from their garden. Why not our own? The short answer is...it's too much like work! Not only does it need constant weeding, but when we harvest our crops we have to clean them too. Mark figures we spent serveral hundred dollars starting ours. Master Card or Visa would say it's a small price to pay for our own organic garden and that's priceless.

No Boys Allowed

Since Luke is walking/running now he and Brooke seem to be playing together more and more. Brooke will push him in our various toddler vehicles and they play "race" together. Sometimes it can be frusterating to moderate their playtime together but when they get along like the other night, I had a full hour to get my chores done without any interruptions. It gives me hope for the future that they will be friends. Brooke for a long time ignored Luke and I prayed that she would love him and my prayers seem to have been answered. Don't get me wrong she still says like today that she doesn't like/love boys and I have to point out that her daddy is a boy and she loves him. She told me that it's "God's rule" that girls only love girls. We'll see about that when she's a teenager!

"The world makes me tired" Brooke 3 1/2

This is the first night in a long time that we put Brooke to bed without a pull-up. You see it's not that she is unable to "save her pee for the potty" but rather she chooses not too. For example, this past week we spent the night at my parent's house and my mom gets Brooke up and her pull-up is dry. My mom tells Brooke that she needs to come with her to go potty. Brooke resists but goes anyway and on the way to the bathroom pees. I have to hand it to her, it must have taken a lot of concentration because my parents house is small so her window of opportunity to assert her control was short. Mission accomplished! I think she does it simply because she knows it annoys my mother and it's one thing she can manipulate. So tonight I with all the excitement I can muster I tell Brooke that tonight she gets to wear underwear to bed. She yells, "but I will pee in my bed!" I staying calm, act like it's no big deal and tell her she can do that if she wants but that I think it would be very sad to sleep in wet bed. Last night she told me after a battle of the wills that "the world makes her tired." Me too! What a piece of work.

So now that I have a blog...

I didn't know anything about blogs until I started reading my friend Stephanie's. I enjoyed stalking hers but thought that I really didn't have much to write about to create my own. However, over the last few months I found myself thinking "If I had a blog I would write...". So today is the day.

I chose to identify myself as "The Pilots Wife" not because that's all of who I am, but more because I find that it defines my life and the daily happenings more than anything else. And consequently because my husband's a pilot, this past weekend/ week our friends Janice and James came to visit us from Houston. We spent most of the time at the lake relaxing at "Grandpa's Lake House". It was a great time and best of all Brooke was brave enough to swim in the lake by herself (with a life jacket of course)! Previously, she has been clinging to either Mark or I fearing for her life. She has now decided to "do her swim lessons" and wants to swim out into the middle! Mark felt sorry for Luke the whole time because he is always taking a nap when we have the most fun. Maybe next year buddy...