Ok well...

Boxy was having another off day which is usual for her. So I ask, "Boxy, are you sick?" Concerned that maybe she was battling an ear infection or something. 

Boxy replies "no, I am sick of mommy"

Um, did my two year old really just say that to me?

The Name Game

I follow a few blogs that my friends write and lots of them use nicknames on their blogs for the family members. I have thought about this several times and never could find something catchy, fitting and obvious (so the reader that knows us will still know which person I am referring to).

The other night at dinner, the subject of call signs came up. What is a call sign, you ask? It is a 'nickname' for pilots. It usually has some meaning behind it or a fairly good story. Well, my man is known in the Navy world as 'Juice Box'. We don't drink, which is an oddity in the military world. So at 'good ole boy' functions, 'Juice Box' would fill his mug with beer from the wardroom draft and not drink it, or just fill it with soda.

The girls got to talking and we came up with these names.

Meet the family...

Juice Box

"Boxer" (get it? Box-R)

 B-Box

 Boxy (get it? Box-E)

  And then there is me... Mrs. Box or Juicy

What is your vote, Mrs. Box or Juicy? Post it in the comments below... or email me with your vote!

The Power of Hair

As many of you know, we are lightly potty training Elli. We were told by her nephrologist to NOT potty train. So our answer was to casually do it, because she was ready. So we almost never force her to sit on the pot. We ask if she wants to, then if she says no, we don't. Tonight I knew she was overdue, so I asked her if she wanted to go. She said "no thank you, mommy". I then said if you go, I will take my hair down (currently in a ponytail) and let you play with it. That little girl ran to the potty.

Then I thought, did I really just bribe my child with my hair? And did it really just work? WOW!

She did her business and immediately started playing with my hair. Then after about 6-7 minutes, something drew her attention away (I think it was Daddy reading a book in the other room). She took three steps away from my hair, then turns a 180 while saying "one more time." She caresses my hair for a few strokes and then runs off to listen to the book.

Fast forward one hour:

I am singing Elli her good night song, the last step in the good night routine. She normally assumes her position, sucking her right thumb while rubbing my hair with her left hand. I give her a kiss and say "Good night, Elli, I love you"...Her reply... " I love your hair, Mommy"


This is a habit that started very early. I was blogging about it by her 8th month.

What a sweet little Elli Dew!

With every move

With every move, you create new memories, new routines, new friends. But you never forget the ones you have to leave behind. You develop snapshots that in a nutshell describe the few short months or years you spend at that stop.

Here are pictures of our last week, that will most likely be my snapshots of my girls' time here in Little Creek.

Sweet sisters and sweet friends uniting over a picture book.

And, sidewalk chalk as the medium for their imagination among a great group of neighborhood friends.

This time a hopscotch that goes all the way up to 79!