Definate By-products....

Sometimes I look at the kids and go who the heck are you?? But more often than not I see things and go, yup that is totally me or that is totally your dad...... It is true that these little creatures are a definite chip of the ol' blocks but there are those times that you go hmmmm that must be the milkman's characteristic.....which I guess makes them who they are! Just thought I would list a few to remember since the ol' memory bank will not even remember tomorrow!

Like Mom:
1. Brooke is a multi-tasker she has 101 projects going at once and feels the urgency to finish them.
2. Brooke could sit down to watch a show, however she doesn't just watch the show she is cutting up paper, she is reading a book, she is experimenting with water colors......(I'm afraid this is a little like mom/grandma Novacek)
3. Brady is the first one to throw in the towel at night and just say, I am tired, and puts up no fights about it, a kid after my own heart.
4. Brady is up and at em in the morning - he likes to cuddle, but you can talk with him immediately and he is happy as pie.
5. They love themselves a good tub.
6. Brooke could be a terror if she is pushing the hunger button, and then can be your best friend as soon as she gets food in her belly!
7. Brady could eat an endless supply of fruit.
8. Both kids love to read. (exciting news Brooke is actually starting to read she is into the dick and Jane books and i even cover up the pix to see if she is really reading the words and it is starting to happen!)
9. Brady is the worst listener and the best cuddlier.
10. Brady loves stuffed animals, as I did as a child.
11. Brooke is so not a doll girl, she will apease, but she would be happier with a marker and paper.

Like Dad:
1. Brady could sit down for a show and not move for an hour and will be concerned with nothing else.
2. Brooke needs at least 15 minutes to stretch and wake up before she is spoken to...not a morning bird what-so-ever.
3. Brooke also could stay up until midnight if need be and rock that mutha out.
4. Brooke has a SWEET TOOTH, she always knows she can work dad over to get one more treat after dinner because Chris usually jumps on board too!
5. Brady has some instinctual love for sports.
6. Brooke has a love for music, she sings songs and gets the melody immediately.
7. Brady (now I know he is two, and most will be like this) but he loves and giggles out loud every time someone falls on TV, sad to say at the ripe ol' age of 36 so does his dad.
8. Brooke has the best memory ever!


Like the Milkman:
1. Brady is the most sensitive lil' man I have ever met.
2. Brooke's feelings get hurt very easily.
3. Brady refuses to use utensils.
4. Brooke is extremely clumsy, if there is something to trip over she will trip.
5. Both kids could care less if they are covered in ink and mud.
6. Brady must have something in his mouth at all moments (hand, sleeve, toy, book) (side note we actually had to purchase a library book because Brady ATE it!
7. They are both shy in social situations that are out of their inner circle.

I'm sure some of these things will stick and some will evolve over time but it might be fun to look back and see what they were like at 5 & 2.

Brooklyn Ella - 5 years old....

Brady Christopher - 2 years old.....

Happy Birthday Hubbie

Just want to give a quick shout out to good ol' hubbie - It was his Birthday yesterday! He did what every 36 year old guy wants to do on his birthday.....Sleep in, watch sports all day while eating a big za that lays in his lap, roam freely about an empty house.......oops I mean that is what he wanted to do on his special day, but in reality it went a bit more like this......wake up to watch the kids while his wife goes for a run, manage two kids on bikes that refuse to look for cars, wear a flashing neon pin that reads "it's my birthday" that his daughter couldn't wait to give him, then pack it up to go see a live Disney Playhouse show downtown, and finally out to dinner with friends and five toddlers running around a sports bar! So it varied just a tad from the original dream, but hey - it wasn't too bad.

We were able to enjoy a dinner out the night before, so all in all, not the worse case scenario, but another birthday has come and gone and we still love you to pieces!

Brooke was very into Chris' birthday for some reason this year - she had made and wrapped a gift and had been hiding it for weeks, unknown to me what it was or where she was hiding it.... (it happened to be a 4x6 pix of her and Brady shoved in the corner of a 5x7 frame) I am still trying to figure out what she took out and where that could be......she also had requested to go out and purchase his cake and decorations and here were some funnies that came about.

me.....wow Brooke there is a lot of traffic out here today.....
Brooke.....It doesn't matter mom, we have to get this done today - Dad's birthday is more important than traffic.

Brooke......(in a loud flabbergasted voice on the way home from getting b-day treats) MOM STOP! WE FORGOT THE PINATA!
Mom.....Brooke I think dad will forgive us for not getting a pinata! oh vey!

So not sure if it was Chris day of Bliss - but it was for the kids - they enjoyed Disney

Brooke felt like she had to dress up as if she were going to the Metropolitan Museum in NYC....pick and choose your battles right?

Brady was a deer in headlights - he sat emotional less for the entire show - never removing his pupils from the stage, I think he was just taking it all in and wondering if the TV had sucked him in and now he was truly living his dream? So I can't say he was that kid singing and dancing and jumping up and down, the only emotion he showed was a fake cry at the end and a quick statement of "show back on" so I guess he liked it!

emotional less during the show and than hamming it up later at the restaurant.

At least dad got to enjoy some good ol' fashioned chocolate to end a hectic birthday celebration!

Happy Birthday Chris/Dad!

Recovering........

The Munson household is in full recovery mode on many different levels:

Kids:
both recovering from fevers and the general blahs of staying in P.J.s for three days.

Me:
recovering from some major leg pain induced by running - getting olds a treat!

Chris:
Recovering from having two sick kids home in the general blahs in P.J.s for three days.

Our house:
Recovering from one creative, but extremely messy Brooke...... it is endless

• She must be painting or having piles of shaving cream to play in at all moments of the day

• You can open our freezer at any point in the day and there will be a new "experiment" sitting in a Dixie cup ready to freeze (usually colored water with some cereal and broken up spaghetti noodles)
• She has discovered food coloring and has fallen in love - little does she know it stains everything!

Our alarm clock:
recovering from it's six month hiatus now that Brady has slept past 6:30 since the daylight savings time


So hip hip hooray to healthier times ahead!

Dewy Decimal System.....

The Munson public library is in desperate need of some sort of book catalog organization system. I am not sure the Dewy is capable of handling the monstrosity that the kids have accumulated. They are EVERYWHERE and I know, books the best things around, I will agree, and I love them and both my kids love them, they are natural book worms, but the piles must stop! We recently, in honor of National Reading month, took all the books out of every nook and corner and compiled them into one large heap (you see as their preschool teacher grandma is closing in on retirement the heaps gets bigger and bigger with each visit - trust me everyone couldn't be happier about it, except our floor!) So before I got over the top anal and literally started printing up labels with 125.6 BRA and 136.89 BRO on them Brooke agreed to help organize (Brady we sort of had to keep in on the down low..... "NO MY BOOKS!") and pull together younger books that we don't really use anymore and donate them to their school. We are making progress - however now that they are laid out into a vast sea on our carpet - the kids (mainly Brady) don't want to put them away - they are playing Library, making piles and forts out of them......so the library is still under construction, but we are getting there!


Brooke is starting to get into the reading thing - she is "required" to read 15 minutes or more every night and then has to turn in a coupon verifying she did - in order for her to win tix to a minor league baseball game and have a school party - so she is full force - case in point - she told me tonight "the boys in our class are really falling behind, the girls are reading a lot more"

Also her teacher, bless her heart, has instituted a "NO TV day" one day each week to promote reading -Brooke isn't as into this contest per say, but I think it is something to strive for....however one of them is on a Tuesday when Chris has them home - we will see how that pans out :)


So in honor of National reading month I will turn off this darn computer and honker down with some educational reading, US magazine.....I swear there ARE articles in it, inspiring, captivating, intriguing articles!