Silly Kids =)

I was folding laundry in the living room today and heard the kids giggling and talking in the other room. I kept folding and listening to them. I wasn't sure what they were playing with, but it sure sounded like they were having a blast.

I love to hear them play together and try not to disturb them because once they see me, their playing usually ends. They sounded a little echoed and I couldn't figure out where they were, so I decided to sneak up on them to see what they were up too.

Sometimes if you wait too long, you'll find them doing something naughty. For instance, I heard them playing in the kitchen a few days ago and enjoyed the sounds of their giggling. I finally got too curious and went to check on them. Good thing I did! They had bowls of water on the table. Silas had climbed on top of the table and they were splashing around and having a great time. haha.

Anyway, back to my story...

I checked their room, the office and my bedroom. No kids.

I passed the bathroom and heard another giggle.

I opened the door and didn't see anything.

Another giggle.

I opened the shower curtain and found this.

How cute are they? I'm so glad they didn't have the water running. And see what I mean about disturbing them? JC was already getting ready to get out and move onto something else =)

I love being a Mom to these two!

5 Question Friday

1. What is better, growing old with out money or dying young and wealthy? Now that I'm married and have kids I would say growing old without money. I can't imagine a day without them. Sometimes money isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Seems like the more money people have the more problems they have. I've said it a million times. I would never want to be rich. I want to appreciate the things that I have.

2. Who takes out the garbage at your house? Andrew, after I remind him a bazillion times and eventually tie it up, drop it by the garage door and put a new liner in. If he hears that he'll come running around the corner saying "I'll get that. Why can't you wait for me?". Well hun, If I wait any longer the trash will spill out onto the floor and I don't feel like sweeping and mopping =)

3. Have you ever had the same dream many times? Yes. I dream that someone is chasing me outside in the woods. I can hear them, but I can't see them. I know they are about to grab me and pull me to the ground and then I wake up. So scary! I hate that panic feeling I have when I wake up.

4. Can you play a musical instrument? Not anymore. I use to play the violin. It was so cute and tiny.

5. If you owned your own store, what would you sell? I've thought about this numerous times. I can't choose just one. I would love to own a baby boutique, a bridal shop, a funky fashion boutique or a celebrity/antique type store (one that sells old Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Beetles memorabilia). Wouldn't that be awesome?

Chuck-e-Cheese. A kids dream or a kids nightmare?

We recently went on a play-date with a friend from JC's preschool. That's when I learned that Silas is deathly afraid of Chuck-e-Cheese. No, not the scary rat costomue some dude sports around for a few minutes, but the rides, the music, the jungle gym, the whole shabang. I had to take both kids by myself that day because Andrew was working. I didn't think it would be such a big deal because doesn't every kid like Chuck-e-Cheese? JC adores that place!! As soon as we got there she ran off with some tokens to start riding the rides. I sat down with my friend to chat and watch the kids. As soon as the rides started up Silas started SCREAMING his head off. I'm talking about screaming, clawing, climbing up me, trying to catch his breath kind of cry! I thought to myself "Are you serious?" I'm here and what am I suppose to do now? Make JC leave after 2 minutes of being there? Then I would have 2 screaming maniacs. Nope. Not going there! He cried so much that a man who worked there came up to ask if everything was ok, even a Grandma sitting a few booths over asked if she could help. Silas seemed to be extra scared of this Jeep ride that sat near us. I thought that maybe if we moved to another area he would calm down. I found a booth next to a Barney car ride. Ahhh Hah! Barney! Silas loves "Bahn". I packed up everything we had and made our way over to the new seat. Silas screamed the entire time I was pushing him over in his stroller. We sat down and I showed him Barney. More screaming! Silas made claw marks all over my shoulders trying to get away from the rides. I seriously couldn't believe it. I was trying to console him while handing JC tokens and keeping an eye on her as she rushed around with her preschool friend. I tried giving him anything from crackers to sprite to a cup full of tokens to dump out and play with. He cried so much he was doing that weird heaving things kids do when they have cried them self out. Finally after about 30 min of being there he started to calm down. He eventually made his way off my lap and down into the floor to walk around. He even walked over to a phone toy and played for a few seconds. That's when he saw it. JC had jumped on a bike ride that you pedal round and round. It turned on and started playing music. Silas ran as fast as those little legs could carry him, screaming the entire way. He literally jumped into my lap and said No, No, No. He kept shaking his head. Then he said NO CHEESE!! I about died. I laughed so much. I didn't mean too but it was so stinkin cute. He never got back down off my lap after that, but he did eventually calm down enough to eat some crackers and play with some tokens. I've learned that Silas and I will not longer be taking any trips to Chuck-e-Cheese.

I often wonder if Silas will be one of those kids that stand behind their Mom's legs peeking out to see what's going on. It's a good thing he's going to be little because my legs run out of hiding room around the age of 2 :)

Today a commercial for CeC came on TV. He looked up at the TV, shook his head and said, "NO Cheese!". Next time you see Mr. Silas go ahead and ask him if he wants to go to Chuck-e-Cheese. :) He'll give you the same answer every time. No!

Teaching JC to read

I've been wanting to teach JaneClaire to read for some time now. I know she can do it. That girl remembers every single detail about everything and is super smart, I just needed to take the time and start teaching her. My Mom home schooled me, my sisters and brother and taught us all to read. I can remember my sister Charity reading when she was 3. She reminds me a lot of JC. They are both social butterflies and love to learn new things. I asked my Mom what book she used when teaching Charity. She told me it was a book titled "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Lessons". This is what it looks like:

She still had the book she taught Charity and Chandler with (No surprise there. My Mom loves books and keeps every single one. Not kidding! :) and I borrowed it from her around Christmas.

The book teaches children how to read by a method called the SRA DISTAR reading program. I know a few people who have used it at church with their kids and had wonderful results. I talked with a lady who is a teacher at our church. She has used this book not only to teach children how to read but also how to speak if they had speech delays or speech impediments. We started yesterday and it is so easy. Almost too easy! You start by teaching the child to sound out a letter. For instance yesterdays lesson was learning the sounds for the letter M and S. You show the letter and have the child repeat the sounds over and over. Mmmmmmmm and Sssssssss. You never say what the letter is you just make the sound. It allows the children to sound out the words they are reading instead of trying to guess or remember what the letters say. JC picked it up in no time and now points out every M and S she sees. "Mommy, that says Mmmmmm" "That sign says Sssssssstop". Every day you teach a new sound and eventually start putting 2-3 letters together to make a word. My mom said my little sister was reading well by lesson 40. I hope I can continue to do this everyday until all the lessons are finished. It only takes about 20 min. Well worth the time. I'll keep everyone updated on her progress. She loves when she finishes the lesson because she is allowed to put a sticker on the lesson page. Ahh the little joys of being a kid. :)

Well hello again!

I'm back! Christmas kept us so busy...that's why I was MIA for a little while. This was going to be a long post, but I just noticed the clock. It's 3:46 and we need to leave for Church by 5:00 AND I haven't had a shower. Been too busy cleaning and doing laundry. Miss JaneClaire had a potty accident in her bed last night (rare) and I needed to clean her bed and all the stuff that goes along with that. Then this morning I gave Silas his usual cup of morning chocolate milk. He already is very uneasy on his legs (dwarfism related) and the mornings, especially cold mornings make his legs very stiff (pseudo trait). He was waddling all over the place and fell against his sippy cup. It must have hit directly on his tooth because he started screaming and crying. Andrew picked him up and noticed his gums were bleeding. That's when I saw it. His tooth was pushed back. Oh no. That's all I could think. My poor little man had his first major accident. I hate hate hate that his tooth is messed up. If you know me you know how much I want myself, Andrew and the kids to have nice smiles. I'm a teeth person and one of my greatest fears is having my teeth knocked out. I always make sure my family goes to regular dental checkups. They may hate me for that and I'm ok with it...lol. Anyway, I called the dentist as any panicked mother would and explained what happened. He said it was very normal for that to happen to toddlers and there wasn't anything he could do. He said if the tooth started changing colors, continued bleeding or seemed to bother Silas that I should bring him in. Silas didn't seem to mind. It stopped bleeding and he's eating fine. I think I'm more worried about it than he is. You can tell that he knows something doesn't feel right because he keeps touching his tooth with his tongue. Silas has what he call "The typical Silas smile". He sticks out both front teeth and cheeses really big. Now when he does it, only one tooth shows. :( or :). It can be funny and sad either way you look at it. All I keep telling myself is "Thank God these are only his baby teeth". If it were his permanent teeth we may have to check Mom into the mental ward. hahaha. Anyway, I'll leave you with a Silas smile. Adios to those sweet teeth you show me when you come walking towards me, hair sticking up all over the place and saying Vama (Mama). Sniff. Sniff.

Merry Christmas from The Lamica Family

Snow?

That's right. Alabama got some snow. And not just 3-4 flurries like we usually get, this snow actually stuck around for a little while.

Friday night I remember hearing from the Weatherman (Dan Satterfield to be exact) that we may get some snow. I said "Ahh, I'll believe it when I see it" because we all know how often we hear the word snow, get our hopes up high, clean off the bread and milk isles and then get ready for a huge disappointment.

1. Because the snow never actually comes and

2. Because when it does finally come it never sticks.

I went to bed that night forgetting about the snow. I woke up Saturday morning with Andrew telling me that we actually had some white stuff on the ground :) I woke up JC and hurried her into her warm clothes, boots and coat. This was the first time she was going to get to play in it (it snowed last year, but she was sick and didn't go out).

Andrew took her out while I got Silas up and ready. He's not much into being outside anyway, so I didn't bother getting him into stuffy clothes and watching him waddle around crying in the snow. Silas is more of an indoor boy...lol.

Andrew was able to take some shots of her playing. About 15 minutes after they headed out to play they were back in.

Me - "Coming in so soon?"

Andrew - "Haha, yeah. I'll tell you what. JaneClaire is a true southern girl. She played for a little while and said it was too cold and she wanted to go in and get warm!"

Me - "That's my girl!"

The snow lasted for a little while. A few hours. Just the way I like it!