i LOVE you, but you're driving me CRAZY!!

It's Thursday

2010-09-08T13:36:00.000-05:00

This morning, having a conversation about whether or not he need PE shoes today:

Ethan, looking confused: It's Thursday?
Me: Yes, It's Thursday. It seems like it's only Wednesday because there was no school on Monday for the holiday, remember?
Ethan (Still looking a little confused): Oh, yeah. So I need my PE shoes because it's Thursday not Wednesday?
Me: Yes.

Five minutes later:
Ethan: So, if it's Thursday, how come Nick doesn't have school?
Me: Um..... (oh, no...Nick had school yesterday, so it can't be Thursday....) Because it's Wednesday? (Shoot!)

Needless to say, Ethan was very confused, and I left to go get more coffee...
And yes, it's really Wednesday today, not Thursday. It's a wonder my kids survive me somedays.

The Boys Room Makeover

2010-08-14T22:47:00.000-05:00

It was about time for Nick to get a real bed, so we started shopping for beds. If you're going to ask for a new bed for one boy, chances are you'll ask for a new bed for both boys. If you're getting new beds, you'll need some new sheets. And if you're getting new sheets, you'll need a blanket to go with them.... Well, you know how that story goes...

So, here's the surprise room redo. We managed to buy all the stuff for this, and have it hidden around the house (or in plain sight) this week, without the boys catching on. They "tent camped" in their room after we took out the old beds on Monday to clean the carpets and paint the baseboards. Today, they were gone at Nana's, and we surprised them tonight when they got home with the fully made over room.


Daddy must love us an awful lot to do all this work for us!

But he's not crazy about the picture part...

Starting to take shape.

One down, one more to go...

Time to make the beds...

Tent canopy up, and bed made.

Mama must really love us too...she even ironed the curtains!

New beds, new curtains...

Ethan's bed is ready now too...

Ta...DA!!!!!

There's a tv watching area...

There's a reading area....

There's even an 'overflow' stuffed animal bin...

And here's the "Big Reveal"...
oops...couldn't get that video clip to work.
I'll try to figure it out and add it later. They were soooo surprised!

I love this book!

Checkin' out the tv area...

His comment? "It looks like where worms live!" Unique as ever.

Time to check out the sleeping area.

I love it!

Have to get everything 'just so'.

Ahhh...perfect!

Summer Fun

2010-06-08T13:14:00.000-05:00

I'm a 'Murner', Are You?

2010-06-02T09:42:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, on the way to the park after school, we stopped in at the Sonic Drive In to get some 1/2 price happy hour slushies. This particular Sonic only has one driveway going in, and I always seem to forget that and head for what I think is the 2nd driveway, but is really the place next door. And, of course, they don't connect. This has happened often enough that I realize it as soon as I'm just past the correct turn in spot. So, I muttered, "Shoot. I missed the turn again!" to myself. In the backseat, Ethan says, "Mom!! You're a MURNER!"

Now, I'm trying to turn left across three lanes of traffic, and I'm really not paying attention to him, but as soon as I cross over in the parking lot, I hear an echo in my head of what he had said. Somewhat horrified, I wonder what would make my son call me a murderer. I don't even squish spiders in the house, thanks to 15 years of brainwashing from my hubby, who can't stand to kill any living thing. If I can't scoop it up and take it outside, (read: it's too big and scary for me to deal with...) then it gets covered by a large glass, with a book on top to make sure it can't escape, until he gets home to deal with it. (Spiders are strong, you know. It might just pick up that cup that's 100 times bigger than it's own body size, and crawl on out...LOL. I know, I know, I'm a wuss.) But back to the point. Why did he just tell me I'm a murderer?

Me: What? I'm a murderer?
E: No. You're a MUR-ner.
Me: (Okay, well that's better, but what on earth is a murner?) I don't know what that is... What's a MUR-ner?
E: You missed the turn. You're a murner. Get it? You're a 'missed turner'. Missed + turner = murner!
Me: Laughing. Oh. You're right, I guess I am a murner. And you're pretty clever for coming up with that!
E: I know. Are you going to tell Mrs. D. at the park about 'murner'?
Me: Yep, I'll definitely tell her about that one.

Later that night, on the way home from a Love & Logic class, we had this conversation:
E: What class did you have to go to?
Me: It was a Love & Logic class.
E: Why did you need to go there?
Me: So I can learn to be a better mom, and teach you how to be a better kid, so you can have a better life.
E: And be a better dad when I have kids?
Me: Yes, that too, I guess.
E: (Who is only just 8...) I don't know who I'm going to marry.
Me: Well, you probably haven't even met the person you're going to marry yet...
Nicholas: (who is 4...) I'm going to marry a TABLE!!
That was the end of that conversation. We were all laughing too much!

I am surely blessed with these two guys who are always making me laugh.

Dear Ethan & Nick:

I LOVE you,

and you're driving me

CRAZY....

with laughter!

Nick's 4th Birthday

2010-05-20T09:00:00.002-05:00

Nick turned 4 on May 5th. Here are a few pictures from our celebration day.

First things first, wake up and open a present!

Next, grab some donut holes and head over to Jump for Fun to celebrate with friends.

Later, have Grandma deliver your custom order "BLUE EYEBALL" birthday cake.

Open more presents, and wear your special 4 Year Old birthday hat.

Last but not least, family dinner at Hibachi Sushi (Samauri Bistro) with Grandma & Papa, Nana, Aunt Barbara, and Mom, Dad & Ethan.

It's always a surprise when they light the table on fire!

Nick's favorite part? Catching shrimp tossed through the air. When the chef went around for a second toss, Nick was already waiting for him....

Finally, special birthday treat and a song. Nick made one of his trademark crazy faces, and the waitress was laughing too hard to finish the song!

The Three Little Pigs

2010-05-19T10:37:00.004-05:00

Ethan had to draw and write what he would have done if he were one of the three little pigs.

Can you tell he's an eight year old boy? I was cracking up about the fish tank full of sharks.

Menu Planning

2010-05-19T10:22:00.000-05:00

Nick wanted chocolate milk, so after paying me in kisses, we were in the kitchen fixing some for him.

Me: Hey, Nick. What should we make for dinner tonight?
Nick: (very seriously) Eyeballs. Walks off with his milk...

Priceless.

That's Weird

2010-05-14T12:33:00.000-05:00

We were just driving home from Mom & Dad's in this huge downpour. Flash flood type rainstorm, so loud that you couldn't hear anything but the rain thundering on the roof of the car.
Nick says, "What's a sjdsofgi?"
Me: What? Talk louder, I can't hear you over the rain.
Nick: What's a SJDSOFGI?
Me: I still couldn't understand you.
Nick: What's a SHIRT?
Me: What's a shirt? (Really, that's what you need to know right this second?)
Nick: Yeah.
Me: (Umm....how do you answer that?) It's just a shirt.
Nick: Well, now that's weird!

Pause is the New Time-Out

2010-04-28T17:02:00.000-05:00

I think we watch too much DVR'd TV.
The boys are running around playing, and when they need to stop for a minute, (when, back in the 'old' days, we'd just say time-out) they yell, "PAUSE!!!", as if you can just pause real life, and then hit play when you're ready again.

Sometimes, from the next room, I hear,

"Pause!! Pause, pause, pause!!! PAUSE!!!!!"

It's too funny.

Bedtime Stories

2010-04-16T01:31:00.002-05:00

It's Friday. I think I'll wear my pajamas to work. Seriously. Today is National Wear Your PJs to Work Day! How cool is that? Now, I kind of feel like I'm cheating, since I work at home, but I'm still going to wear my Pjs all day! Why should my kids get to be the only ones to wear their pjs to school once a year?

Okay, in all seriousness, I'm wearing my PJs today, not just because I want to, but for a really good cause. The Pajama Program donates pjs and books to children in need who might never get tucked in with a bedtime story. Never know the security of having their own pjs and mom or dad to read a story to them every night before bed. Bedtime/storytime is one of my favorite parts of my day. No matter how much my boys are making me crazy, or how bad I feel, I always love snuggling with them and reading a story together. It breaks my heart that some children never know that gift.

So, while my introverted self cringes, I'm going to go Starbucks for coffee, and when they say "How are you?" I'm going to say, "I'm great! It's national wear your pjs to work day, and I'm supporting the Pajama Program!" I have little slips with the Pajama Program logo and website on them to hand out. I'm taking my son to school (the one where you have to go in with him...) in my Pjs. I'm going to yoga...in my pjs. Maybe I'll be really brave and go inside the bank to make a deposit! Why does that seem worse than going to starbucks? Oh, and my boys and I are donating the money we made at the jbf sale to buy pjs for this great cause. We were able to order 14 sets of Pjs for Pajama Program boys and girls. Now that's a sweet dream!

Would you like to donate?

Go HERE for ways to help Pajama Program directly

(including online donations)
PajamaProgram.Org

Things they don't tell you...

2010-03-31T10:08:00.000-05:00

There are just some things that no one tells you about when you're going to be a mom. Like some of the conversations you will have with your three year old. Today's moment about learning how to put on your own underwear, for example.

Me: Put your underwear and shorts on, so we can go to the park.
Nick: Cool! It has a wiener pocket!!
Me: Yes, it has a weiner pocket... laughing....
Nick: It's a weiner pocket!!! It's a weiner pocket!!
Me: Still laughing... Yes, but the weiner pocket goes in the front...
Nick: OOOOOooooohhhhh!!!!

They say the funniest things...

2010-03-22T12:34:00.000-05:00

Nick came in with one of his favorite Nerf guns just now. I was sitting on my bed, and when he pointed the gun to "shoot" me, I played along, squealed, and fell over "dead". I lay there to wait and see what he would do. He didn't say a word, and I didn't move. After about 30 seconds, he climbed up on the bed with me. He put one hand on top of the other, and starting pushing on my ribs, CPR style, yelling "Breathe, baby, breathe! Breathe, baby, breathe!".

If I wasn't already laying down, I'd have fallen over laughing!

It's a Dangerous Game

2010-03-16T17:56:00.000-05:00

Ethan just came running up to me and said:
Hey, mom! I know a dangerous game. It would be called 'fire-in-the-hole musical chairs'. You would put fire on the chairs, and then put on fire stuff (fire retardant stuff, I think he meant), and then you would turn on the music, do-de-do-di-loo....and then the music would stop and you'd sit down on the fire! Told you it was a dangerous game.

How do you respond to that?

Spelling and Star Wars

2010-03-15T09:24:00.000-05:00

Ethan is doing very well at reading and spelling these days. He is fascinated by playing Scrabble, and can't get enough of it. It's fun to play with him. He actually gives us a run for our money, and is very good with both the spelling and strategy parts of it.

We are also starting to read harder books together. Chapter books! Hooray! His favorites so far are the Magic Tree House books and Encyclopedia Brown mysteries. I'm so glad he (and Nick) have a love of reading!

Nick wants to be just like his big brother, so he is learning how to spell, too. Nick, however, is just learning that the letters make words. He doesn't really understand, yet, that they have to be certain letters in a certain order. He's three. That's a very good start! For him, everything is spelled E-O-I-N. Every word, every time, week after week.
Mom, I can spell phone.... E-O-I-N.
Mom, I can spell door...... E-O-I-N.
Mom, I can spell your com-pooter...... E-O-I-N.
And on and on. Of course, he gets a laugh for it, which just encourages him to keep doing it. I have learned that this kid will do anything for a laugh!

He used to spell everything E-O-I until he heard me explaining to Ethan (who was very frustrated that Nick wasn't spelling things right) that Nick is just learning that the letters make words, and he doesn't know yet which letters, or that some words have more letters than others. Ever since that day, he's added the 'N' onto the end of E-O-I. Kind of funny to realize that he was listening to our conversation about it and actually understood it a little bit. I love those tiny learning milestones! The other day I asked him to spell a bunch of words, and he answered E-O-I-N every time. Then, I asked if he knew how to spell Nicholas. He started to say E-O-I-N, but then he paused and said, "No no no, that's not it. It starts with an N. " Yea! I love when you see the moment they realize or learn something new. It's so incredible.

Tonight after getting in bed, out of the blue, he said, "Mom, how do you spell that round robot guy? You know that robot guy? The robot that's round? How do you spell him? That round guy, R2D2?
Me: R-2-D-2.
Nick: Yeah, him! How do you spell him?
Me: Just like it sounds...R-2-D-2.
Nick: How do you spell R-2-D-2?
Me: R......2.......D........2
Nick: Oh. What about that goldie guy? How do you spell him?
Me: C-3-P-O?
Nick: Yeah. How do you spell C3PO?
Me: C......3.......P......O.....
Nick: Oh. What about those guys with arms and legs?
Me: Luke Skywalker and Han Solo?
Nick: Yeah, those guys. and the other one with the big gun.
Me: Chewbacca?
Nick: Yeah. Chewbacca. (Then he lost interest and rolled over to go to sleep).
I have a feeling I'll be spelling everything under the sun for him pretty soon! And I'll love every minute of it.

The mind of a child works in such mysterious ways. I love being there to hear the random questions that they just have to have answered before they can finally let go and fall asleep. It's the most wonder-FULL time of the day.

Oh no!!

2010-03-06T10:33:00.003-06:00

On Wednesday we walked over to the school to pick up Ethan. Well, we parked in the neighborhood and walked over, anyway, which is so much faster than the parent pickup line. It was finally a warm, sunny day.

As we got out of the car and started down the path, Nick said:
"Oh no!! My eyeballs are on fire! My eyeballs are burning!"
He was right, after endless days of cold and cloudy gray skies, it did feel like the sun is burning up your eyeballs.

SUCCESS!

2010-03-04T11:00:00.002-06:00

This is an old post that I had started, but never posted, for some reason.

It's from November '08, but here it is anyway... Better late than never!

The picture is from October 2008...they've grown so much!!

S-U-C-C-E-S-S!!!!!!!!!

Tonight, instead of Nicholas yelling at me MOMMY, MOMMY, MOMMY!!!!!
when he wanted more drink, he yelled,
PWEASE, PWEASE, PWEASE!!!!

It's the little things....

Oh, and before I forget...
The six-year-old question of the day:
(on the walk to school this morning)
Mom, why do birds poop?

Priceless.

Looking to the Future

2010-03-03T12:41:00.001-06:00

Ethan: I'm going to build a house when I grow up!
Me: What kind?
E: Darn it. I won't be able to show you when I get out of college because you'll be dead!
Me: (laughing) I won't be dead then.
E: Oh, well, I'll show you tomorrow. And I'm going to grow lots of crops too.
Me: What kind of crops?
E: Like vegetable crops.
Me: What kind of vegetables?
E: You know, tomatoes....and lettuce.... and cabbage...
Me: (What!? CABBAGE???? Where did that come from? We don't eat or do anything with cabbage.)
Then Nick says: CABBAGE????? In exactly the same 'what-the-heck?' tone as I'm thinking in my head.... It was priceless.

When we were done laughing, Ethan continued telling us about his future house:
And I'm going to have 'birfday' rooms. Actually I'm going to have fourteen. I'm going to have four birftday rooms for my children when they get born, and then the other ten rooms for the family.
And I'm going to have a moving roof that goes back. So we can go to that room when the nights are nice and warm and just hangout. And we'll have a front row seat for fireworks!!

Nicholas chimed in about his own future house too: I'm going to have a rocket house!

I love to hear about their ideas of the future... It's so fun!

I Forgot the Funniest Part!

2010-03-03T08:44:00.000-06:00

I was tired when I finished the Green Eggs & Ham for Dinner post yesterday, and I just kept feeling like I was forgetting part of it. But I couldn't for the life of me remember. Until this morning. So here it is:

First, you need a little background info. Ethan still has this thing about the "T-H" sound at the beginning of a word. He says "the", and "they" correctly, but anything else he pronounces with the 'f' sound. So 'think' comes out 'fink', 'three' comes out 'free', 'thing' comes out 'fing'... you get the idea. He can say those correctly, but he has to 'fink' about it first, and he just doesn't care. I've tried. He resists. So I've given up for now, and I figure one of his friends will make fun of him, and then he'll start caring enough to say them correctly. Great parenting, right?

Anyhow, we were just done cooking the Grinchy Green Eggs, and he says, "Mom, you know what those remind me of? They remind me of the "F" word!
Me: (Somewhat horrified) The "F" word?
E: Yes, you know, that "F" word for when you puke. That "F" word.
Me: (Huh? What word for puke starts with an F? And then it dawned on me....) OH!! You mean, "F-rowing up?"
E: Yeah. That one!
Me: Honey, that's not an "F" word. That's one of those "T-H" words that you don't say the right way. It's throw up, not frow up.
E: Oh, I didn't know. I thought it was an F word. The eggs do look kind of like F-row up, though, don't they?
Me: (laughing) Yes, I guess they do! (And I still don't know why he called it the F word instead of just saying 'frow up' to begin with.)

Green Eggs & Ham...It's What's For Dinner!

2010-03-02T23:47:00.001-06:00

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

We love Dr. Seuss at our house. We have a whole tub full of books devoted to him on our bookshelf. Even this blog is partly inspired by him. (The other part of inspiration was my awesome blogging Sis-in-law!) See that quote over there on the right? Yep...Those of the words of the man himself. It's amazing what wonderful advice for both children and parents are in those fun little books. Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks so either! Zen Mama's blog today was about Dr. Seuss and all his wonderful goodness. Check it out for some really great book quotes, and a little background on the man who would have been 106 today!

I pulled out our box of Dr. Seuss books while the boys were at school today. We have several, and usually read at least one at bedtime every night. I found a previously-very-grumpy Nick happily reading them on Ethan's bed.

Ethan soon joined him and was happy exploring some of the ones that don't usually get picked for bedtime stories.

Then, it was dinnertime, and the boys decided to be brave and put "Green Eggs & Ham" on the menu. Yes, we really had that for dinner!

They are always so happy to get to cook something together in the kitchen!

Nick declared, "I'm going to kill the eggs!"

Teamwork!

They worked together and took turns whisking the eggs.

Next, Ethan added the green food coloring. He's holding it in the picture, but it doesn't show up much against his green shirt!

They whisked some more....

The finished eggs turned out a nice and somewhat pretty green. Kind of a "Grinchy" green. Appropriate, right? The picture doesn't do the color justice at all.

They wanted their picture with the Grinchy Green Eggs

Nick also wanted green ham, so I smooshed some around in a baggie with the food coloring. The result was beyond disgusting, but Nick loved it. The green still isn't showing up enough, even in this picture!

Nick with his Green Eggs & Ham dinner

And again, about to take the first taste...

Ethan didn't want the ham. Can you tell he's less excited about actually having to try them now? I'm sure he's thinking, "I do not like them Sam-I-am!".

Nick LOVED that nasty green ham. Go figure.

Totally fake "I'm going to try this" pose....

I'm having second thoughts about this.....

Okay, it's official. I tried them, and I do not like Green Eggs ~~& Ham~~!

Still gobbling up the green ham! I DO so like green ~~eggs &~~ ham! I like them, Sam-I-am!!

I think I might just need to search out and get the rest of the Dr. Seuss books to complete our collection!

They say the weirdest things....

2010-03-01T08:25:00.000-06:00

In bed last night, Nick says,

"Mom! I have bulldozer in my brain!! 'Cuz I just do."

That one's for you Liz... :)

A Special Request

2010-02-23T10:35:00.000-06:00

I got this extremely urgent request from Nick the other day:

Nick: MOM, MOM, MOM!!!! (trying to get my attention)

Me: Hmmm? (still not really listening...)

Nick: Mom, Mom, MOM!!!
You have to turn your brain off!!!! (SO seriously and urgently!)
Me: (Laughing) Ummm....ok.
(Some days that doesn't sound like such a bad idea...)

Ethan's Journal Entry

2010-02-09T21:30:00.000-06:00

Ethan, age 7

February 9, 2010

Today I ate my tooth on accident.
Goodnight.

Knock Knock

2010-02-04T16:45:00.000-06:00

Nick: Mom, I got you a joke. (They always, always start with this.)
Me: Ok. (And you always, always have to say ok before he'll start.)
Nick: Knock knock.
Me: Who's there?
Nick: Big nerd.
Me: Big nerd who?
Nick: A big nerd on a great white!!

Now, let me just say, that it's almost impossible not to laugh at the weird combos he creates. The jokes are never funny, but the things he puts together are hilarious. We always have a really good laugh, which is the point of a joke anyway, isn't it?

Nostalgia

2010-02-02T20:49:00.000-06:00

I think my three (almost four) year old is nostalgic for his "childhood".

Whenever we go to a play area, he spends half his time climbing into and getting stuck in the high chairs.

At the park, he only wants to swing in the baby swing, and gets stuck there too. I usually have to ask another mom to help me get him out...not at all embarrassing.

Last week he told me he wanted to drink out of a baby bottle again... that's been gone for nearly three years.

I've also noticed him almost sucking his thumb recently. Not quite with the thumb in the mouth, since he never was a thumb sucker, but he's kind of pretending to... he was a binky baby... where does that come from?

And finally, tonight at bedtime, he asked when he could have his "old" bed back. "The big tall one that I had to climb into." THE CRIB? Sheesh. You want to sleep in your baby crib again? We got rid of that last year! What is going on with you?

Hmmm.... What is going on with you? Is it because you're literally right on the verge of FINALLY GIVING UP THE PULLUPS, completely? Are you torturing me with still having to wipe poop off your butt daily because you don't want your childhood to end? Are you that aware, at three years old, that the end of the pullups is officially the end of being a baby?

Wow. This started out as a funny post, but now I'm a little bit mind-blown thinking about it. Wow.

Question...

2010-01-31T19:00:00.001-06:00

Nick: Mommy, is it Christmas yet?

Nope, not yet. I know it seems like Christmas because you and your brother are going around singing Jingle Bells, Frosty the Snowman, and Deck the Halls, all-day-every-day, but no, it's not Christmas yet. You're only off by 328 days.

How To Make Sweet Tea

2010-01-29T16:23:00.000-06:00

After two days of boys driving me crazy, the end of last night was just an amazing, fun reward for me. Ethan had already fallen asleep on the couch, and Nick and I were in the boys room fraddling and being silly while we started to settle down for the night. Never heard of fraddling? It's the latest hip, innovative word for showing love and spreading joy. Check it out here.

So, we're laying in bed, being silly, watching a Food Network show about how they make sweet tea. I told him how they use the tea bags to make sweet tea. And, of course, Nick says, "Those are not tea bags, those are tea BOXES!" Well, they were... boxes of tea bags, but that led into Nick telling me how to make sweet tea.

Nick:

I know how to make sweet tea mommy. You use choco-wit milk to make sweet tea!

You get ext-wa water and ext-wa wheels

and we take our heads off....

take our bodies off....

At this point I was practically rolling on the floor having fun with his little recipe. Hold on! I've got to write this down. So I grabbed my phone and started texting it into my note app. And what did Nick do? He stopped, and went back the beginning. Then he repeated, word-for-word, IN THE SAME ORDER, the same crazy recipe!

You use choco-wit milk to make sweet tea!

You get ext-wa water and ext-wa wheels and we take our heads off....take our bodies off. AND we take the wegs off and toes off, and den we are go-wing to be all gone. You make sweet tea in the arms. So you can make sweet tea . That's what you can do it. And then you're done. You're done. You're done, mommy! You're just done!!! (Evidently I type too slowly via text!)

Anyone want some sweet tea?

Sounds like...

2010-01-28T18:16:00.000-06:00

Nick: Mom, want to hear a funny sound?
Me: Sure.
Nick: (Blowing through a straw)

Nick: It sounds like SMOKE!!!

It's never what you think they're going to say!

The grumpies

2010-01-28T12:32:00.000-06:00

We've all managed to catch the stomach bug that's going around, and feel yucky, to one degree or another. I won't go into the details, trust me you don't want to know. Let's just say I woke up from a really bad nightmare yesterday to an even grosser reality. Now your imagination is working...and it's probably worse than what you're thinking. 'Nuf said.

Today is the second day in a row for the boys to be stuck at home together, feeling not-so-great. Yesterday, they played nicely, and just generally enjoyed (as much as you can) being sick at home in their pjs. Today? Not so much.

We've all three got a case of the grumpies. Lots of arguments, taunting, and several rounds of tears. Thankfully they come and go pretty quickly.

Case in point? The knock knock joke:

After a minute or two of arguing about who-knows-what...

E: KNOCK... KNOCK!!!! (In the GRUMPIEST voice imaginable.)
N: WHO's THERE??? ( In an even grumpier voice, if you can believe that...
)
E: Giant lego man. (Not so grumpy... almost sounding like a normal human...)
N: Giant lego man who? (Almost said with a smile in his voice...)
E: Giant lego man fell on the floor (as he throws the lego man across the room...)
Both: Laughing together hysterically. Go figure.

Like I said, at least the grumpies leave as quickly as they come!

UPDATE: While writing this, I noticed a very loud lack of fighting coming from the next room. In fact, I realized that there hadn't been any noise in there for about 30 minutes. Hmmm.. must investigate. Want to see what I found? They were in the cabinet together... quietly playing their handheld games with the door closed.

I couldn't help but laugh and run for the camera. Boys, even on the days you're driving me crazy, you always manage to make me laugh! I love you.

Help!!!!!!!! I'm STUCK!

2010-01-23T19:41:00.002-06:00

"Help, mommy! I'm stuck!"
About six months ago, this wouldn't have meant anything serious, but it is obvious that we've now got a pattern going here. Nick has gotten some part of himself stuck in some thing at least three times. The first, definitely the worst. Check it out:

That's a piece of wood with two holes in it. It goes to this cool wooden top that their cousin gave the boys. So, of course, Nick sticks his finger in the smaller hole. And it gets stuck. "Mommy. I'm stuck in a bwock. Wook at "I" finger. You get it offa me!!"

Of course his finger swelled up as soon as he tried to pull it off. We tried to get it off with some soap and water. Well, that backfired because the wood started to swell up. His finger was turning purple. Next we tried baby oil. But the wood and the finger were swollen up enough that we couldn't even rotate the block around. Can't get the baby oil between the block and his skin. It was completely stuck in place. Did I mention that this happened 30 minutes before it was time to pick Ethan up from school? No pressure there. So, we have a finger turning blue, somewhere else we need to be, and no way to fix it. We ended up calling Grandma and Papa to come help. They held him and the block still, while I used a hacksaw to gently....slowly....carefully.... cut ( Oh man, was that nervewracking!)... through the wood. Eventually we got a slice cut into it big enough to fit in the end of a screwdriver and twist the wood apart. Whew. I definitely don't want to repeat that particular experience!

Next, he got his little hand stuck in this small fabric pocket. It was just big enough for him to get his little hand into, but when he made a fist to grab whatever was in there, he couldn't get it back out. "Help mom! I'm stuck in the bwoo (blue) couch!" At least that one was any easy fix. Just had to tell him to open that hand and he was free.

Most recently, he got himself stuck again. He can't resist any sort of daddy related tool or item left lying around the house, and here is the result.

Do you see the roll of duct tape? Doesn't look too bad, but he's wedged it up past his knee, so that it won't come back off. "Um....mom? I need a wit-tle help pwease...I'm stuck!"

Even he is just laughing while I'm asking, "Again?? Really?!?" At least it came off again this time without a hacksaw. Ahh...the joys of boys!

A milestone day

2010-01-20T11:48:00.000-06:00

January 13th, 2010

A very important day in the life of Mr. Nick.
The day...
he learned....
to use the..... (wait for it...)

REMOTE CONTROL!

Okay, now that just doesn't sound that impressive to you, maybe? Big deal, you say? Well, stop and think about it. Aside from the fact that I AM EXCITED to not have stop and turn the TV on for him anymore, he's a future MAN. Men and remotes.... like peanut butter and chocolate, right? SO here's how it happened. Nick comes in and asks if he can watch TV. Sure, I say, go get mommy the remote (nothing new here).

Nick disappears, goes to look for the "car-mote" (because everything has a "ca" tacked onto the front of it, but that's another post) and then I hear, "IT WORKED!!! I pushed the ON butt-ton, and it WORKED!!
You should have seen the excitement on his face. You should have seen the excitement on MY face! Now you can turn it on yourself!! Woo-hoo...!!

And then the realization, that, OH...My...GOSH... he can read which one is the ON button!! WOO-HOO!!!! Way to go Nick-O!! It really is the little things that get us moms excited.

And now I can say, when he's all grown up and channel surfing away, that THIS was the day you learned how to use the "car-mote".

Can't you just see him imagining all the future bliss of flipping from one football game to the next?

Favorites

2009-12-14T08:58:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm going to try to start keeping up with this again. I got overwhelmed with life, and it was just easier to do a quick status update on Facebook, but that defeats my purpose of having this all written down for the boys. Someone from Facebook recently told me I should write a book about all this stuff ( Thanks, LaRue!), and it made me realize that I really do need to start blogging this stuff for real. So, for the grand re-opening, here is one of my favorites.... Don't know if you'll laugh as much as me, but I had tears running down my face re-reading it. Love these boys!

SUNDAY, AUGUST 10, 2008

Ha ha!! Now it's YOURS!!!!

We had Chinese last night. Ethan loves the fortune cookies, so at the end of the night he was stealing the leftovers and eating them for a bedtime snack. He came in with the fortune from one, and asked me:

E: Mom, does this say, "The sun is springing in may"?
Me:What? Here, let me read it. It says, "The star of riches is shining on you this month." Good try reading it yourself though!
E: Oh. What does it say again?
Me: It says, "The star of riches is shining on you this month."
E: Huh??? What star? (Trying to crane his neck around to look at his own back...) Is it really shining on me?
Me: The star of riches. Yep, it says it's really shining on you. (I'm laughing at him already... He's not happy about this star imposing on him and shining on him without his permission!!)
E: No way. (Walks out of the room...)

15 minutes later...

E: (Walking back into the room...) It's not shining on me anymore!!
I got it off of me! (He's wearing a different shirt...)
Here (hands me the fortune again....)
What does it say now?
Me: It still says, "The star of riches is shining on you this month."
E: AaaaRRRrrrGGGGGggggHHHHH!!!!!

24 hours later...

Ethan walks up to me, hands me a teeny, tiny scrap of paper folded into a million folds. It's maybe the size of an un-popped kernel of popcorn.

E: Here....this is your note....and it's not mine!! (He then sticks fingers in both ears, with this weird look on his face....He's looking at me like the coyote looks at the roadrunner when he's just given him a box full of TNT... Like the paper is going to EXPLODE when I unfold it....)

Me:What is it?
E: Just open it! (Fingers still in ears, bracing for an explosion....)
Me: (Unfolding the note....then laughing my butt off when I realize it's the same fortune from last night!)
E: HA HA!!!!! (Very sneakily Victorious!) NOW it's YOURS!~
Me: Now it's my fortune and not yours anymore? You crack me up!

20 random things about being sick with your kids:

2009-02-07T09:02:00.001-06:00

1. Your 2 year old says "bwess you mommy" everytime you cough or sneeze, and it melts your heart every time.
2. While waiting for prescriptions to be filled, you round up every flavor of jello imaginable from the store shelves.
3. 'Cover your mouth when you cough' becomes your mantra.
4. While you are in the middle of saying your mantra for the 431st time, your child coughs directly in your face....for the 212th time.
5. AFTER paying in the checkout line, your sick child sees the soda case and wishes he has a Sunkist.
6. You are declared "My best mom ever" after charging $1.38 on your debit card to buy one sunkist.
7. In the waiting room at the Dr. office, you notice that although he is playing across the room with his back to you, your 2 year old only says "Bwess you mommy" when YOU cough, not when a stranger coughs. This again makes you smile in some weird way.
8. Your two year old is playing pretend. He pulls kleenex out of the box, fake sneezes, 'a-shoooo', and then hands you the 'used' kleenex. Just like real life.
9. Your older son is lamenting over all the solid food he can't keep down. "Oh, I wish I could have...." Never mind that it would make you throw up 20 minutes later.
10. Your 2 year old keeps saying, "I want to go home mommy" while standing in the middle of his own bed.
11. Your 6 year old feels sorry for you enough to turn off his PS3 game and tell you that you can watch whatever tv show you want.
12. You are thankful, sort of, to all be sick at the same time, and at least get it over with.
13. Then you find out at the Dr. that you are all sick with 2 different things, and the school age child who has already missed too much school is the only one NOT yet down with influenza. Wonderful.
14. Your six year old is dancing through the kitchen singing "I ate solid food, I ate solid food..." once he starts feeling better.
15. You spend 2 hours trying to get an ALMOST 7 year old to take 3/4 of a tsp. of yucky medicine mixed with grape soda.
16. Your 2 year old takes the same yucky medicine straight up, smacks his lips, and says, "aaaahhhh".
17. At the dr., your 2 year old becomes frozen like a statue during the exam and won't do anything the dr. asks.
18. At home, same 2 year old is now contantly sticking his fingers in his mouth far enough to gag himself and says "Say ah mommy"
19. You learn that driving 20 minutes across town to the dr. is actually faster than going to the crappy dr. 1/2 mile from your house. And better too.
20. You are so happy and thankful when everyone starts to feel/ look better you want to do the happy dance and shout, "woo-hoo!!".

Oh, and I do think we're all starting to get better. Nick seems better already thanks to Tamiflu, and Ethan's on preventive doses of Tamiflu, so we're hoping the worst is behind us.

I'm a puppy!

2009-02-04T19:15:00.003-06:00

We are all sick right now. All four of us are down with something, probably the flu. Not fun. Especially not fun being the sick mom to two sick kids.

But, just to keep things interesting, between bouts of crying and whining, Nick is playing pretend.

N: Look mom, check it out! I'm a puppy!
Me: You're a puppy?
N: roof, roof!! Pant, pant, pant (with tongue hanging out). Can I have a bone mommy?
Me: Here you go.
N: Fanks mommy!

He's also playing pretend sick. He walks over to the kleenex box, pulls one out, fake sneezes, and says "I sneeze mommy! A-chooo!"

This afternoon, while Nick was napping, I was hanging out on the couch with Ethan since he was home from school for day 2. I must have looked pretty bad, because he: 1. turned off his PS3 star wars game, 2. told me I could watch TV, and 3. Told me I could watch whatever I wanted, even if it wasn't cartoons! Now, that's pure 6 year old LOVE folks!

Hoping we're all back to normal sooner rather than later!

Mom-mom?

2008-11-14T12:23:00.004-06:00

Nick: Um, Mom-mom?
Me: Yes?
Nick: Meck! (saying 'milk' but pointing to the toaster)
ME: What?
Nick: Meck! (still pointing to the toaster...)
Me: You want milk?
Nick: YEA!!!!!!!! (Big grin...hands me his empty cup)
Me: (Whatever kid. Why are pointing at the toaster?) Here's your milk (pouring milk into his cup)
Nick: Meck.
Me: Do you want white milk or chocolate milk.?
Nick: JUICE!!!!!
Me: Chocolate milk it is.
Nick: JUICE!!!!
Me: Chocolate milk...here you go.
Nick: YEa!!! More....or ......wess? More.....or.....wess? More or wess. More or wess.

Now where did he learn more or less? Probably the same place he learned octogon, diamond, and quattro, cinco, seis. Gotta love NOGGIN!

It's that time....

2008-11-13T06:03:00.003-06:00

It's that time....when Nick is getting old enough that sooner or later we're going to have to potty train him. Yea! No more diapers..... Boo! Potty training is a pain in the you-know-what.

Anyway, he's gotten up a few times with a totally dry diaper, so Saturday when he got up I sat him on the potty to see if anything would happen. We've done this before, and usually it just results in him rapidly flushing the toilet over and over, or something else equally unproductive.
Well, SATURDAY, I sat him down and he just went.
Yea! Good job Nick, you're a big boy now (blah, blah, blah...you get the idea).
Sunday I sat him up there,
and he looks down and says.... "Here it comes!"
and sure enough, here comes the peepee.
Yea! Yea! Good job Nick, you're a big boy now (blah, blah, blah...you get the idea).

Did you notice I said Saturday and Sunday, and today is Thursday? Yeah. That would be because we haven't managed anything more since the weekend. I just get the pre-recorded message: "Um, Mom-mom? It's not working!"

I told you Potty training is a pain in the you-know-what!

I'm crying!

2008-11-07T08:44:00.002-06:00

The other day, Ethan was out of school for early release, so we went and had lunch with Grandma and Papa. By the time we were done, we (me, Ethan, and Nick) were all tired and more than a bit grumpy. So the boys were NOT happy when we got out of the van at Grandma's and just went straight home to take naps. In fact, Nicholas was more than upset, and cried and boo-hoo-ed as loud as he could the whole way home. Which made Ethan complain that Nick CRYING was hurting his ears.

So, Nick, the little smarty pants, picks up on the word crying, and starts boo-hooing,
I'm CRYyyyyyyINGGgggggg!!!
Boo-hoo, boo-hoo, I'm Crrrryyyyyyiiiiinnnnnngggg!
I'm CRYYYYYing!!
I'm crying!

He was working it so hard, and telling us he was crying at the same time, just in case we weren't getting it. It was HILARIOUS. I went from tired and grumpy to laughing my butt off in about a half a second. And as soon as Ethan realized what Nick was saying, he was laughing hysterically too. It was sooo funny....
I'm Cccrr(sob)rrryyy(hiccup)yyYYYYiii(sob)iIIIINNNNNNNN(hiccup)GGGGGGGGGGG!!"

Well, as soon as Nick realized we were laughing at him, instead of giving in, the tears stopped. Like a water faucet being turned off. You could almost see him thinking:
Hmmm.....that's not working.
I'll try my old standby......
"I'm scared.....there's mon-hurs (monsters). I'm scared.....there's mon-hurs."

Which didn't work either, but at least he wasn't screaming anymore!

Ta da da da da DOooooo!

2008-11-07T08:34:00.003-06:00

For a long time now, Nick has been talking well enough that we can all understand him most of the time. He won't be three until next May, but he counts forward and back ward to 13, he knows shapes like octogon, cresent, and rectangle, he flies rocket ships to outer space saying, "3-2-1-BLAST OFF! psshhhhhhhhh Look! A Planet!!"

So, he's very verbal, and I love understanding him when I couldn't understand Ethan at this age. But there is one thing that he has said for a LONG time (maybe 6 or 8 months?) that none of us could ever figure out. Whenever he didn't have something work the way he wanted, or he was mildly upset by something,
he would say, "Ta-da-da-da-da DOooooooooo!" and throw his hands up in the air.
He's still saying it.
"Ta-da-da-da-da DOooooooooo!"
And we will ask, what is that? What are you trying to say?
"Ta-da-da-da-da DOooooooooo!"
What do you want?"
Ta-da-da-da-da DOooooooooo!"

No clue what that might mean. It's EXACTLy the same everytime though, so it must mean SOMETHING to him.

Well, at lunch the other day, the lightbulb came on (and he said it a little more clearly so that I finally GOT it!) He's saying, with his hands up in the air, "I don't know what to DO!".
As in, my crayon just dropped behind the booth seat and I can't get it out! "Ta-da-da-da-da DOooooooooo!"
As in, I dropped my drink and can't reach it "Ta-da-da-da-da DOooooooooo!"
As in, I can't find my binky "Ta-da-da-da-da DOooooooooo!"

It is so cute and sweet now that I know what he is saying! "Ta-da-da-da-da DOooooooooo!"

Look Nicko!!

2008-10-16T19:19:00.002-05:00

So, we're driving down the road, and from the backseat I hear the usual, "Look, Nicko!". It's what Ethan is always saying to Nick when he wants him to look at something. So, what's the catch? Well, it wasn't Ethan talking this time! Nick is in the backseat saying, "LOOK NICKO!! A spongebob! Look, Nicko!! A car! Look, Nicko, a pish (fish)!!" Over and over again. "Look Nicko!! Look Nicko!". Hilarious! We were ALL cracking up!

The boys...

2008-10-02T16:25:00.002-05:00

Yikes...

I missed the whole month of September. Got to do better than that.

So, here's the latest funnies:

Ethan: Mom, how much days are we going to be at Hawaii?
Me: 8 days.
E: EIGHT days?????????
Me: Yep, Tuesday, Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon, Tues....8 days.
E: Eight days! Whew! I don't like octopuses!!!
Me: ???????

And then there was yesterday, when I said the wedding was in 10 days, and he told me "We better get there on the NINTH day, so we don't miss it!!"

And Nick, from the backseat of the truck in the drivethru:
Nick (yelling): umm.......a TACO!!....um.....DRINK!!!!!.....Um...TACO!!!
Man at the window: Do you need any sauce with that?
Nick: Um..........Need SAUCE???????? TACO!!!!!!!!!

And today on his "cell phone"
Nick: Hello?........yeah..........hang on................gotta run............BYE!!! Hello? Hang on. Bye..............Hello???????????? HANG ON!!!............Bye!

It is so much fun to watch and listen to them!!

Raising Butterflies

2008-08-18T08:46:00.003-05:00

Well, this is from a few weeks ago, and I'm just getting around to posting it. Summer is flying by faster than the speed of light, it seems, and this is one part of it I don't want to forget!

Nana asked us to water her plants for her in early July when she was out of town. We headed over there one day, and while watering the herbs, I realized that they were being destroyed. Something had eaten almost the entire LARGE bunch of parsley! Oh-no!!

Wait......what is that? Oh man....it's covered in caterpillars! They've eaten everything but a few stalks, leaving only a few nubs behind. Man, Nana is going to be bent! Okay, how do I salvage this? Gotta get rid of the caterpillars. Hmm...not about to TOUCH them! Have to go inside and figure out what I can use to get rid of them.

So, I walk into the kitchen, find some scissors, and go back outside, right about the time the cartoon-ish light bulb goes off over my head. CATERPILLARS!!! Caterpillars turn into butterflies!! How cool would that be?

I go rushing back into the house, calling for Ethan, looking for the boys bug hunting enclosure to put the caterpillars in. Ethan is running around following me, "What? What? What? What mom, What? What do you need that for?"

I take him outside, and show him the caterpillars destroying Nana's plants, and tell him we're going to take them off and take them home and see what happens. "COOL!!!!!!!!" (Boys are so much fun!)

We harvest 9 caterpillars from the parsley plant, along with a few sprigs of parsley that they haven't eaten yet. Toss them gently in the bug collector, and head home to drop them off. Can't leave them in the truck in the heat while we go play, so we leave them on the kitchen table and go out to meet friends for playgroup.

When we come back a few hours later:
Ethan: (rushing to check on them...) oh COOL!!! They're POOPING!!!!!!!!
Me: No they're not. Why does everything have to be about poop?
Ethan: Yes they are. They're pooping A LOT!!
Me: Show me. I don't think they're pooping....we just got them in there.

Well, sure enough, then entire enclosure thing was covered with disgusting green caterpillar poop. It was everywhere. It was amazing. I've never seen so much poop from such little creatures in such short time! GROSS. I didn't plan on having a box of caterpillar poop in my kitchen, but now we're committed so it's too late.

We do some research on the internet, figure out we think they are Anise Swallowtail Butterfly Caterpillars. Well, that's a relief. I wasn't even sure if they were the kind to turn into butterflies or not! They love parsley (go figure) and fennel, according to the internet, so we get them some from the store and load up the enclosure.

We watch them for a few days, cleaning it out and putting in new food, amazed at how much they eat and poop. Eventually they quit moving. They're not dead, but they're not moving. Then all of a sudden they are all wrapped up and attached to the wall or ceiling. Of the nine, we had 2 make it that far. The others died for whatever reason. But we had a green chrysalis, and a brown chrysalis. (Chrysalis is for butterflies, Cocoon is for moths....Ethan will tell you if you get it wrong!) We watched, and watched, and watched. Then we watched some more. Nothing. Rats. I was starting to think this was going to work.

Then all of a sudden, there's a butterfly in there flapping around! LOOK!!! IT WORKED!!! ETHAN HURRY AND COME SEE!! YOU'VE GOT A BUTTERFLY!!

We had a butterfly enclosure all ready to go, just made out of some netting, so we put the butterfly in there and watched it for a few minutes. Actually we kept it in there for a few hours until Daddy and Grandma and Papa could see it.

Then we let it go outside and watched it fly up to the trees. It was really cool! Nicholas waved and said "Bye bye...." So cute.

A few days later, the other one came out too, and we had a second beautiful butterfly. Then we realized that these are more black than the anise swallowtail, and after some more research we've figured out that it is a Black Swallowtail. Totally cool summer fun! More about Black Swallowtails here...

Ha ha!! Now it's YOURS!!!!

2008-08-10T16:41:00.003-05:00

It's okay...It's Okay.....It's OKAY!!!!!

2008-08-09T11:43:00.003-05:00

Yikes, I was grumpy in that last post wasn't I?

Well, here's a happy one to make up for it....

Those are my two cutie boys! They like to lay together in Ethan's bed at night and watch TV together for a little bit. It started out lasting a total of maybe 5 seconds, before Nick would get up and go running around. It's slowly lasting a little longer every night. They've gone for more than 1/2 hour a few times! It's so cute, and it makes them both SO happy!

So, last night they did it again, and after awhile, I went in and put Nick back in his crib so they could both go to sleep. I told Ethan I'd be back in a bit to lay with him (he's been sick...). When I do head back in there, Ethan is fast asleep already. Hooray! Now, normally, I would sneak my butt right back to my own bed, and leave him alone if I found him asleep. But, since he's been sick, I've been sleeping with him so I can help him if he needs it in the middle of the night. I won't go into TMI about why. You can probably figure it out.

Anyway, I crawl in his bed with him, and when I move the covers a little bit, he bolts up to sitting, and starts waving his arms, trying to hold me back on the bed, and yelling, "It's okay....It's Okay....It's OKAY!!!!!!!!!!!"

I guess he must have been half asleep when I put Nicko back in the crib. Ethan thought I was Nicholas, and I was trying to get out of bed! What a good big brother, right? He wakes up from a deep sleep trying to protect his little brother? What a good kid!

Here they are again (this is morning, which is why they're so awake!)

Forever? You forgot about school....

2008-08-02T21:40:00.002-05:00

It's 9:40. My kids are both up. Yes, I'm an awful mom. I cannot get my kids to sleep at night. Ethan has been popping up every two minutes. I say go to bed. He pops back out a minute later.
Here's a small sampling of my evening:

Me: Bring me whatever you're playing with in there that is not supposed to be in your room.
Ethan: (brings out two orange soccer cones)
Me: Now go to bed.
Nick from the crib: Mommy! MOMMMMY!!! Mommy! MOMMMY!!!!!
Ethan: (throws the cones in the corner behind the rocker)
Me: Ethan!
Ethan: What?
Nick from the crib: Mommy! MOMMMMY!!! Mommy! MOMMMY!!!!!
Me: That's not where those go. Just GO TO BED!
Ethan: FOREVER?
Me: Yes!
Ethan: You mean until I'm....
Me: Until you're twenty.
Ethan: Nuh-uh. You forgot about school.
Me: Too bad.
Ethan: Why?

Ethan: (to dad): Dad! You almost got in trouble!

Me: Really? Are you SERIOUS?

What are you eating?

2008-07-30T20:20:00.002-05:00

I was on the computer last night when Ethan came walking in. He's chewing/sucking on something, and it's hard and clacking against his teeth.
That sounds like he's sucking on a water bottle lid...
Me: What are you eating?
Ethan: CAN- (suck/clack/suck)-DY
Me: Oh. Good.
Ethan: NOT a dead rat!
Me: Mmmm-hmm. (Not paying attention now that it's not a danger issue...)
Ethan: Suck/clack/suck....
Me: WAIT! What did you just say? Did you just say you weren't eating a dead rat?
Ethan: Yeah, because that would be disgusting, right? Yuck.

Where does this come from? I have no idea. Truly.

Today, as it's pouring rain, Ethan says: I knowed that it was going to rain today.
Me: You did?
Ethan: Yep. I knowed it yesterday, even before it started to rain!
Me: Really? (We had like a less than 20% chance for tomorrow, none for today, and it was 105 and sunny all day.) How did you know?
Ethan: My brain just knowed it. Sometimes brains do that.

******************************************************************************

Nicholas is now working hard to keep me laughing too. Besides counting all day long, and pointing out numbers and letters everywhere we go, he's into colors. So I pointed to his yellow striped shirt yesterday and asked, "What color is this?"
Nick: Dis is BOO!
Me: laughing....no, this is YELLOW!
Nick: Dis is BOO!

We did this all day. I'd ask,"What color is this?"
Nick: Dis is BOO!
Me: laughing....no, this is YELLOW!
Nick: Dis is BOO!

Over and over, always the same answer. (And very proud of it he was!)

Today, pointing to a BLUE shirt, I ask,
What color is this?
Nick: Big grin.....Dis is yeyow!!

I LOVE THESE BOYS! Life is never boring!

Yeah.....is it time for school to start yet?

2008-07-16T14:27:00.002-05:00

So, I'm ready for school to start.
Ethan has been ready for school to start since last week.
He was begging for it.
I went to the library and got a bunch of math and reading stuff for him.
That helps a little.
We got to the pool, or to play with friends everyday.
That helps a little.
We have quiet time every after noon while Nick naps.
That helps a little.
Then, there are times like right now, where I just think, "IS IT AUGUST 25th YET?????"

Ethan, pulling out a Dublin Dr.Pepper for his afternoon treat, walks by me to go pop the top off the old fashioned glass botttle.
As he goes by he says: Ilikebasettbarryceptnotforlunch.....
Me: ???? What?
Ethan: Ilikebasketberryceptnotforlunch..... (Duh, mom!)
Me: What????????????? I still couldn't understand you!
Ethan: I.....LIKE.....BASKET....BERRY.....'CEPT.....NOT......FOR.......LUNCH!! (Jeez, mom, aren't you listening?)
Me: Uh-huh. (so I heard it right, but it wasn't supposed to make any sense?)
Ethan: Yeah, you know like basketball, but it's basketberry, 'cause they don't have basketballs, they only have berries. Just not for lunch.
Me: IS IT AUGUST 25th YET????

Math kid.....the sequel

2008-07-10T09:38:00.002-05:00

Well, if you know Ethan at all, you probably know that although he's only 6, he absolutely LOVES math. Loves, loves, loves it. In kindergarten last year if he started to get upset about something (like having to fingerpaint) his teacher figured out that if she pulled out something math to do he'd perk right back up. Yeah, I know. What kind of kindergartener likes to do math over fingerpainting?? MINE! :) He truly gets so excited about it. It's fun to watch.

Anyway, little brother, just turned 2 in May, is on the road to being "the sequel". Not only did he stand up last month at playgroup and count flawlessly and spontaneously from 1 to 10 in front of a bunch of moms whose jaws dropped open, but last weekend we were driving around and after Ethan counted from 1 up to 12, Nick added on to the end and yelled, "Thirteen!!!" Needless to say I was the one with my jaw hanging open after that!

Little math guy also has his shapes down already, as he was running over the colorful cut out squares, circles, and triangles at the video store. He's run full speed down the aisle and as his foot touched a shape he'd yell out the name: "Circle!! Triangle!! Square!!" and he was getting them all right too!

I guess I'll have to start calling them the "Math brothers" !!

Gotcha!!

2008-07-02T14:17:00.003-05:00

We took a 4,000 mile road trip with Grandma and Papa in June. Just me and the boys in the backseat (unless grandma traded with me). Along the way we stayed in several hotels. At one, we were all winding down for the night. I was reading, Nick was in his crib watching a movie on my laptop, Ethan and Grandma were playing a game, and Papa was sitting at the table playing on his laptop too.

After about 10 minutes of silence, more or less, Nicholas jumps up in his crib next to Papa and yells, "Gotcha!!". And Papa just about jumped through the roof!

It was hysterical! What 2 year old plans that kind of thing? Or at least DOES that kind of thing? We were all laughing so hard that he did that and actually scared Papa!

He's definitely Ethan's little brother!

Girls don't have...

2008-07-02T14:11:00.002-05:00

Well, I didn't post for all of June, and now my first post in July is about poop, but that's just how life goes, I guess.

Ethan is in the bathroom across from me, and he's sitting there with the door wide open while he poops. Now, the kid won't get dressed in front of anybody anymore, "Don't look at my Butthole!" he says...or "Don't look at my ding-ding (penis)", but it's okay to poop with the door open. I don't get it.

Anyway, he's trying to convince me to come in and help him wipe because his poop is gross. That's what he said. To which I replied, "ALL poop is gross. Wipe your own butt."

Ethan: MOM!!!!!!! All poop is not gross! You don't have poop because you're a girl! Girls don't have ding-dings OR butts! So you don't have poop! Duh. You don't have ding-dings or butts!!!!!

In the old, LONG, days...

2008-05-29T23:04:00.004-05:00

One of Ethan's favorite shows is 'How It's Made' on the Science channel. He has loved this show since he was about two. I used to put it on thinking it would bore him to sleep, but instead he was fascinated by it, and starting requesting to watch it!

Just now, we were watching it, and they were showing cows getting milked, etc. I was explaining to him how farmers used to milk the cows by hand one at a time, instead of the automated way they have it now where machines do it, and the cows themselves choose when to come in to be milked.

His comment after this?
"Uh-huh. And the udders are like their ding dings, right? (His word for penis...but he was embarrassed when I said no they were boobies. Go figure....) And, Mom, you know in the old, LONG, days? Mountain Dew used to come in a huge square bottle like this! (He draws a rectangle in the air about a foot wide). It was REALLY big."

I managed to not laugh, but I did hop up to go blog it before I forgot!

You're not the boss of me...

2008-05-21T20:17:00.002-05:00

"You're not the boss of me!"

How many times as a kid did you say that? Brings back memories, doesn't it?

Well, I heard it again tonight in the truck on the way home. We were in the driveway at my mom and dad's after dropping mom off. Ethan was swinging/spinning this large remote control car around by the wheels. It's going around and around and around, and I can just see it flying out of his hands and breaking his nose. I tell him that, and explain why I'm asking him to stop so he won't get hurt.

Ethan: Huh! YOU'RE not the boss of me!!
Me: (Oh, buddy, that was NOT the right thing to say to me or the right tone to say it in!) Oh really? I sure AM the boss of you! I'm your MOTHER!
Ethan: Uh-uh. You're not the boss of me. GOD is the boss of me!
Me: (Crap. How do you argue with that?) Well...You're right, that's true.

Me: But you know what? God is the boss of you and he put me in charge of taking care of you!
(Ha! Got the last word after all! And it actually worked and stopped the argument.... Amazing.)

Why did the chicken....?

2008-05-20T11:48:00.002-05:00

Ethan told me a couple of jokes yesterday. They were actually real jokes that made sense and were pretty funny. He was very proud of himself. I, of course, have mommy brain and can't remember what they were.

Just now, Ethan missed a joke on one of his kids shows, so when he came back in the room, I told him he'd missed a good joke.

Ethan: What was it?
Me: Why did the chicken cross the playground?
Ethan: Because he was dead.

I am now laughing my butt off, because when we were kids, my brother, a.k.a. Uncle Aaron, used to go around saying 'Why did the chicken cross the road?........To get DEAD!' It's a family joke now that will never be forgotten. Anytime anyone says why did the chicken cross the road? we all say: To get dead!

So, for Ethan, who doesn't know about this, to answer similarly 'Because he was dead' just cracks me up! For other Ethan/Aaron eery similarities (beside that I'm always mixing up their names!) check out this post and this post from a few months back.

Back to the real joke,
Why did the chicken cross the playground?
I tell Ethan the punchline: To get to the other SLIDE!

He looks at me like I'm stupid and says: That's not a good joke. That isn't even funny!

Can't win around here. LOL.

Ethan: Now THIS is a funny joke:
What does a bee do when he gets married?
He gots his own HONEY!!!

Ho!!! (Slap to the head!!)

2008-05-19T17:40:00.002-05:00

Ethan is a math nut. He loves it. He's learning addition and subtraction now. He loves to throw out random questions for me and see if I can answer them. They are usually something like " What is twenty hundred plus two?" or something oddball like that. But here is what I just got quizzed on (and it impressed the heck out of him that I knew the answers so fast!)

Ethan: Mom!!! What is THREE plus TWO.... (I capitalize here because he puts heavy emphasis on this as if they are HUGE numbers....)
Me: Five
Ethan: Here's a WAY hard one. What is Three MINUS Two?
Me: One
Ethan: (Majorly impressed!): HO!! (Slaps himself in the head!)

Can I have a mango?

2008-05-19T17:20:00.002-05:00

Ethan came home willingly after playing at the spray park today and took a nap! Yea! He slept peacefully next to me while I lazed around and watched a movie....I just couldn't get motivated to work outside with it being 95 degrees out. And you all know what a good housekeeper I am, so of course there wasn't any work to do inside. Yeah right. But a movie in the dark seemed much better than sweating and working around the house. I hate the heat. And I'm trying really hard to not turn the air down below 78 during the day. If I had my choice, and unlimited money to pay the electric bill, it would be about 68 in here! So I opted for a movie instead of housework. I know, I know...you're all SHOCKED.

So, after a couple of hours of VERY peaceful napping with just an occasional snore, Ethan woke up crying. Out of nowhere.

He wakes up.

He's sobbing.

He says, "Can I have a mango or I can't??"

Me: You want a mango??????? (What??? Where the heck did that come from? Who dreams about being denied a mango???)
Ethan: (Lip quivering, still crying:) I just want a mango.
Me: You're crying because you want a mango?
Ethan: (Barely holding back the tears....little tiny SAD voice....)Yes. Just can I have a mango or I can't?
Me: We can buy one at the store next time. No problem. Were you dreaming about wanting a mango?
Ethan: No. (Still crying.... )I just want a mango!!
Me: Um....okay. Well we'll put it on our list. Does that make it better?
Ethan: (Lip quivering....trying not to cry.....saddest face you've EVER seen....:)Uh-huh.

Just in time for Mother's Day....

2008-05-08T18:18:00.006-05:00

In honor of Mother's Day coming up this weekend, I thought I'd post a little bit of the appreciation I just received.

It's the end of a LONG day. After seeing the bed completely torn apart, with everything on the floor, and the mattress half off the bedframe, I asked Ethan to pick up the blankets and put the bed back together. Sometime in the next 30 minutes before dinner.

MELTDOWN. I mean LEVEL 12, MAJOR MELTDOWN.
Tears,
Kicking,
Screaming,
Thrashing around,
And.........

"YOU'RE THE BADDEST MOMMY IN THE WHOLE WORLD FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Happy Mother's Day to me.

And.....on a happier note:
I received this in an email from another Mom friend today...
Which makes me cry whenever I read it:

A baby asked God, 'They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow,
but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?'
God  said, 'Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you'

The child further inquired, 'But tell me, here in heaven I don't have
to do anything but sing and smile to be happy.'
God said, 'Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you.
And you will feel your  angel's love and be very happy.'

Again the child asked, 'And how am I going to be able to understand
when people talk to me if I don' t know the language?'
God said, 'Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words
you will ever hear, and with much patience and care,
your angel will teach you how to speak.'

'And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?'
God said, 'Your angel will place your hands together and
will teach you how to pray.'

'Who will protect me?'
God said, 'Your angel will defend you even if it  means
risking its life.'

'But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore.'
God  said, 'Your angel will always talk to you about Me and
will teach you the way to come back to Me,
even though I will always be next to you.'

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices
from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked,
'God, if I am to leave now, please tell me my angel's name.'

God said, 'You will simply call her, ' Mom'

Oh,  and I did just get an apology from Mr. Meltdown: 
"Mom, I'm sorry I called you the baddest Mommy
in the whole world.  I just want you to be the
goodest Mommy in the world."

Thanks, honey. 
(But I'm still not cleaning up your mess for you!)   :)

TWO years ago....

2008-05-05T23:16:00.002-05:00

TWO years ago today, our little Nick-o joined the family!! Hooray!! So now we're officially in the 'terrible twos'. Yikes. Actually, if I remember right, the terrible twos are easy compared to the threes, so I think I'll just enjoy the calm before the storm. I can still remember being in that hospital room watching Ethan play with his "craw-craw" (crocodile) and turtle happy meal toys, and waiting, waiting, waiting....Then finally.....Nicholas Ryan Acker!! Wooo-hooo for you sweet boy!

Little Nicholas prepared for his big day today by going to bed at 1 o'clock yesterday.
Wow, you say, that's late for a one-almost-two-year old? No. I mean ONE in the AFTERNOON! That's right. He went to bed at 1pm for a nap, and woke up THE NEXT MORNING at 8 am. Now, I can't guarantee that he wasn't awake at some point in between, but he was sure asleep every time I checked in on him, and if he woke up in the night he was quiet enough that I couldn't hear it even with the baby monitor cranked up way louder than usual. Gotta get some sleep and prepare for the big day, you know. When was the last time YOU took a 19 hour nap? Yeah, me either. Sounds good though, doesn't it?

Of course, being two, he doesn't know it's his birthday, and didn't understand any of it. But he was pretty pleasantly surprised when a routine shopping trip to Albertson's netted him a donut, a Blue's Clues balloon "oh wow!" and not one but TWO large bouncy playground balls! "Oh yea! Oh boy!" Then all his friends came over to play in the backyard, we had cinco de mayo tortillas and cheese for snacks, ANOTHER nap!, and dinner with daddy and the cousins....pizza....Nick's favorite! All that, and still the family party to come on Saturday. Grandma is making the cake of course. It's a 'surprise', since Ethan couldn't figure out what to pick for Nick to have as his cake. It's going to be cool, I'm sure!

Then at the end of the day, a card in the mail from Papa Doc made him smile one last time before bed! Open closed. Look at the rubber duck. Open it. Close it. "Cool!!" He just loved that duck on the cover! It's always the little things that they love the most! :)

Happy Birthday Nickers!

MOM!!! I need to tell you something....

2008-05-04T17:14:00.002-05:00

Ethan: MOM!! I need to tell you something....
Me: Okay. Just tell me. You don't have to say 'I need to tell you something' first. Just tell me.
Ethan: OK. I need to tell you something.
Me: (I give up.) What?
Ethan: Numbers don't have arms or legs or hands or feet or toes!!
Me: Really???
Ethan: Yep, they really don't!!!

Um....okay.......

Hmmm.....

2008-05-01T21:39:00.003-05:00

Nick, not to be outdone by big brother, started another totally cute, hysterical thing tonight.

Picture chubby cheeks (it just took me five tries to spell that...what is WRONG with me?)...

Anyway, picture chubby cheecks, face covered in chocolate chip cookie crumbs, and little baby voice...

Nick: Hmmmmmmmmmm...... .(Tapping his chin with his index finger JUST like Ethan)

and then (as of the LIGHT BULB went off...) I KNOW!!!!!

Hmmmmmmmm........I know!! Hmmmmmmmmm.......I know!!! Hmmmmmmmm I know!!!

He's totally cracking me up!!

Teacher appreciation

2008-05-01T21:26:00.003-05:00

Next week is teacher appreciation week, so the kids are filling out these certificates to put in a book for the teacher. It's a fill in the blank type thing. Here's Ethan's:

Dear Mrs. Thompson,
You are the GOODEST teacher in the whole world. You have lots of PAPERWORK for your students. You are a HAPPY person, and you are FUN to be around. If you were in a talent contest, you would win first prize because your best talent is TELLING STORIES.

I think you are the most awesome teacher because
YOU TEACH ME MATH!!!

Love,
ETHAN

Did I mention that he sat at the table yesterday and CHOSE to do 18 pages in a subtraction workbook? Please, mom, please can I do some math work? PLEASE!!

Oh...all right.

Overheard...

2008-04-30T15:50:00.002-05:00

I had to take the boys with me this afternoon to run a few errands. We had two stops to make, and it was that afternoon time when either Ethan turns into a cranky pain-in-the-rear, or Nicholas starts just randomly high pitched screeching, or on my lucky days...BOTH.

Thankfully, I guess since I was expecting the worst, everything went smoothly. Even when we had to wait in line at the tax office for the new license plates on the truck. Wow. That was NiCE! The lady even said how nice they were and gave them each a "s-u-c-k-e-r". Yes, she spelled it for me when asking if it was okay. I think I stared at her for about 10 seconds before my brain caught up with her and went, "oh, yeah! a SUCKER. They'd love one. Thanks!" Duh. I miss my brain. I truly do!

Anyway, the next stop was the movie theatre to buy summer kids passes for $5 which get you in to TEN different movies all summer. Ten movies for $5? You can't even go to one movie for $5. I had bought one for each of us, but then I was rethinking it, and so I was going back for a couple of extras for bringing someone with us. Again, things went smoothly, and we had a pleasant walk in the sunshine over to the other side of the shopping mall. It's outdoors. It's huge. But the day was really nice, and it just wasn't worth parking and carseats and all that again, so we walked.

On the way back, I overheard this lady passing us. She was talking to another lady. I don't know if it was her mother, her sister, her friend, or what. This is what she was saying:
"If I died today...."
(okay, I'm thinking, that sounds interesting...)
"If I died today the thing I would remember about you...."
(Oh, that's sweet. What would she remember?)
"If I died today, the thing I would remember about you would be that sour puckered up look on your face."
(What? Who says something like that? That's not at all where I thought she was going with that sentence!!)

Besides, if she died today, she wouldn't remember ANYTHING!! She'd be DEAD!!

Weird. Just weird.

Head, shoulders, knees & toes....

2008-04-29T09:20:00.002-05:00

Last night I was laying in bed with Ethan, trying to get him to go to sleep at a reasonable hour so he doesn't have black eyes from being so tired.
He's fidgety,
flopping around,
kicking the covers,
drumming on his stomach,
conducting music in the air,
making weird noises, etc.

All of a sudden, he turns to me and says,
"Mom, what does shoulder mean?"

ME: This is your shoulder. (Pointing to my shoulder)

Ethan: Oh.

He then proceeds to start singing to himself:
Head.....shoulders......knees and toes....knees and toes.....

And of course he's doing the motions too, touching his head, his shoulders, etc. Except he was singing faster than he could keep up with the right motion to the right body part with the right words. IT WAS HILARIOUS. It was so hard for me to not fall off the bed laughing hysterically, but I somehow managed to keep quiet and just watch. Since I don't have a video, here's the replay:

Ethan singing slowly:
Head (touches head with right hand)
Shoulders (crosses all the way over his own body and touches the shoulder on the far side)
Knees (touches his knees)
and toes (touches his foot)
Knees (touches his knees)
and toes (touches his far shoulder)

Singing a little faster:
Head (touches head)
Shoulders (crosses all the way over his own body and touches the shoulder on the far side)
Knees ( touching knees)
and toes (touches toes)
Knees (touches shoulder)
and toes (touches head)

And faster still:
Head (head)
shoulders (Far shoulder)
Knees (knees)
and toes (toes)
Knees (shoulder)
and toes (knees)

Head (head)
shoulders(knees)
knees (shoulder)
and toes (toes)
Knees (shoulder)
and toes (head)

So, he's singing head, shoulders, knees & toes, but he's TOUCHING:
head, knees, shoulder, toes, shoulder, head!!

Then he rolls over, pulls up the covers, and says,
"Mom, I know what a wedding looks like, but I've never been to a wedding."

Uh-huh. 'cause that's EXACTLY what I'd be thinking .5 seconds after I finished five verses of Head, shoulders, knees and toes!!

My latest concoction...

2008-04-27T20:36:00.002-05:00

When I was a kid growing up, my friends and I used the bathroom in our basement to make all kinds of "concoctions". We used to mix everything under the sun together and just thought it was all so cool. I have no idea why that was such awesome fun, but it was. Anyway, tonight's dinner for E.B. brought that to mind.
Joe said, "I'll be SHOCKED if he eats that."
I said, "Watch and see!"

Okay, back up a bit and let me tell you that Ethan needed some allergy medicine because his "nose has buggers in it" which means it's running and itching and driving him crazy. Joe, however, asked him if he wanted some allergy medicine.
"NO!!!"
Joe: Want mom to mix it in some root beer for you? (He was trying to be so helpful!)
Ethan: NO!!!!!
Me: (Crap, now I can't mix it in the root beer, since he probably won't even go near a root beer now even without medicine in it!)

So, I'm starting to fix a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for Ethan, and I think....hmmm...that allergy medicine is grape flavored. It's clear. I wonder if I can sneak it in the sandwich with the jelly? So, I did. And it worked!! At least until the liquid starting spilling over the sides of the bread, and dripping out the middle. Yeah, nothing suspicious about a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that is dripping clear liquid out the middle, right? I hold up the sandwich....drip drip drip. Put it down. Laugh. Listen to Joe say how disgusting that is and how crazy I am to try that.
Then I think, "What the hell." I pull out a new plate that doesn't have allergy medicine dripped all over it. Cut the sandwich into dinosaur halves. Yes, I cut his sandwiches into dinosaurs. It's a $1.50 cutter that I got at walmart that is worth it's weight in gold. They love it, even though the blobs that come out don't look like dinosaurs to me! ) Hand the dino sandwich to Ethan with a glass of milk. The result? 3 minutes later...an empty plate! WOO-HOO!!
Me: Ethan, show daddy your plate!!
Ethan: Look dad, I ate all my dinner!
Joe: Your mom is crazy.
Me: Ethan you know what? I just gave you your allergy medicine!
Ethan: What? No you didn't.
Me: Yep. I waved my magic wand and got the medicine in you!
Ethan: That's not real.
Me: I used my magic mommy wand!
Ethan: The one that's invisible? I NEVER see that one!!!

Hey, I try really hard not to lie to my kids, but sometimes you need to keep a few secrets (for now) and use a little mommy's magic wand!

A picture's worth a thousand words...

2008-04-24T12:05:00.002-05:00

Yesterday's "Nature Walk"...can't believe this is in the middle of the metroplex!

ETHAN made this with his Lego Mosaics:
(I call it Pinoccchio Penguin)

and this is his other version: "Alien Penguin"

And this is Ethan playing his new, most FAVORITE game ever. Spongebob? No. Dora? No. Thomas the Train? No. Not my kid. HIS favorite game is a bunch of math problems called "Math Missions!". His teacher was cracking up that I ordered it from the bookorder and she knew he was so excited about it! (That's her solution whenever he gets upset about something. Just pull out some math and he's instantly happy!)

And finally, I didn't get a picture of this because Joe had to take the camera to work, but when Ethan pulled out his T-shirt and shorts last night to wear to school today, this is what he picked out:
On top, a LONG SLEEVE (it's 85 and MUGGY here) olive green t-shirt that is small enough that the sleeves only come to his elbows. On the bottom (this is the hysterical part) : A pair of bright green and blue PLAID BOXER SHORTS that he pulled out of his underwear drawer instead of his shorts drawer.
You know, it crossed my mind to let him wear that (at least long enough to take a picture!) but then I decided I'm not THAT mean a mommy! He's going to be humiliated enough by this blog when he's 15. I can spare him one humiliating photo. (But I still BLOGGED it!! ) LOL...

I know what we can name it..

2008-04-23T08:47:00.002-05:00

So, how do you know when you really need to step it up and lose some weight? When no less than SIX different people ask you in one week if you're planning on having a third one. Even Ethan is in on it, telling me about five times that he wishes we had lots of kids.

Me: You mean lots of brothers and sisters?
Ethan: Yeah!!! I wish we had twenty hundred kids! THAT would be AWESOME!!"
Me: (Feeling faint at just the thought!)

And later:
Ethan: Mom, mom!! I know what we can call him?
Me: Huh? Call what?
Ethan: I know what we can call HIM!!
Me: Who?
Ethan: You know, if you have another one, and it comes out of your tummy?
Me: (Like Alien?) You mean another baby?
Ethan: Yeah!! I know what we can call him. Cause we can call him anything we want, right?
Me: Yes, we could call him anything we want. (But we're not, 'cause we're DONE!!) What do you want to call it?
Ethan: Ankle-0-saur!!!!!!!!! That's would be awesome!!
Me: (Um, yeah. And that would prove my point that I'd have no brain left if I had another baby. What's your child's name, ma'am? Ankle-o-saur Acker? Um, I don't think I heard you right. Could you say that again?)

Why I moved to iLOVEyouBUTyoureDRIVINGmeCRAZY!!

2008-04-22T15:54:00.000-05:00

Well, I've been informed by my very hip future SIL that I need to move my blog off of myspace, and put it somewhere that more people can read it. For those of you that have already read the EB and Nick-O Chronicles, hang in there since I'm transferring them all to this blog so they are all in one place. If you're like me, you might read them again and laugh all over. It helps to have the lack of memory that I do (part of the brain cells I lost to the boys while pregnant...) because I will have totally forgotten something they did and then re-read about it and laugh my butt off all over again.

Anyhow, this is the new place to read all about their hilarity and adventures. The title, i LOVE you, but you're driving me CRAZY!! is something that I say to EB occasionally when he is just driving me nuts and I have to somehow tell him so I don't have to yell at him!

I say,
"I LOVE you.................................
.........BUTYOU'REDRIVINGMECRAZY!!"

Then we both laugh and feel better. It's actually been quite awhile since I've said that to him. A couple of weeks ago we were at the store trying to shop in the middle of the afternoon (BAD IDEA....DON'T go to the store with kids in the afternoon. BAAAAADDDDD Idea!! You'd think I'd learn this as many times as I've told myself this, but I continue to torture myself.)

Anyway, little Nick had decided that it was a GREAT time to practice screeching in this high-pitched, better-than-any-girl-could-ever-do scream. ALL THROUGH THE STORE. It was awful, and it was making Ethan and I cringe.

Ethan looks up at me and says,
"Mom, I know what you're going to say to Nick!"
Me: "Huh? What do you mean you know what I'm going to say to Nick?"
Ethan: "You're going to say I LOVE you...........BUTYOUREDRIVINGME CRAZY!!!!"

TRUE....so true!!

Classic Ethan

2008-04-22T15:24:00.002-05:00

April 1, 2008 - Tuesday

Classic Ethan
Category: Life

Ethan comes up to me and tells me that he knows why he’s been getting scared at night in his room.
Ethan: Mom, it’s cause my hands aren’t soft. I’m going to wear these new garden gloves to make my hands soft. They feel soft on the inside. Then I won’t get scared.
Me: uh, Okay. (Notice the nice coordinating incredible hulk pajama top and dinosaur pj bottoms with the lovely contrasting caterpillar gloves...SOMEBODY call Stacy & Clinton!!)

Ethan: Only, I’m still going to be just a little scared, because my feet aren’t soft.
Me: Here, put on a pair of my new soft socks.
Ethan: Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh.......THAT’s better!!

I know why it rains....

2008-04-22T15:24:00.001-05:00

March 28, 2008 - Friday

I know why it rains....
Category: Life

Sometimes the best stuff comes out of Ethan’s mouth as we’re laying in bed trying to get him to go to sleep.

Ethan: Mom! I know why it rains!
Me: Why?
Ethan: (So seriously!) The clouds are crying because their mom sended them to their room and they are sad so they cry and the rain falls down.
Me: Really? It rains when the clouds are sad?
Ethan: Yeah! And when the clouds are not sad they don’t cry, and it doesn’t rain!!!

**************************************************
And on the Nicko side:

Yesterday I put him in the truck to pick up Ethan from school, but decided to do it without his putting on his shoes, since we were coming right back home. We get halfway down the road, and from the back seat I hear:
"Oh-Nooo! Shoe, shoe. Sock, sock."
Too funny! I can’t just hear his brain thinking, oh no! We forgot my shoes!!

Then, last night, I handed him a wipe to wash the oreos off his face, and his said his little baby "hannnnkk hooo" for Thank you and swiped his face with it! I am so loving that he is talking so much!!
His other new favorite words at the moment are Awesome! and O-kay!

Overheard...

2008-04-22T15:23:00.001-05:00

March 27, 2008 - Thursday

Overheard...
Category: Life

I overheard this last night while I was in the garage trying to fix the sprinkler timer which keeps freaking out and turning itself back on with six hour run time. Grrr...

This is a back and forth type of song that he was singing to himself:
Ethan: There’s a party in my tummy (oh yeah, oh yeah)
There’s a party in my tummy ( it’s yummy, it’s yummy)
There’s a party in my tummy ( it’s yummy, it’s yummy)
Are the carrots there? (THey’re yummy, they’re yummy)
Are the green beans there? (Oh yeah, so yummy)
There’s a party in my tummy, ( so yummy, so yummy)

I was just cracking up. He was just over behind me quietly but very enthusiastically singing this to himself!!

Karate

2008-04-22T15:21:00.002-05:00

March 12, 2008 - Wednesday

Karate
Category: Life

Ethan: Even I know karate! I took karate classes and learned how.
Me: You did? When?
Ethan: Um....at my farm, my killer whale teached me. He lives under the water all the time and holds his breath. He’s even under water all night long. Then in the morning he comes up and teaches me karate! That’s how I know karate.
( a killer whale karate instructor and a t-rex chef. This is turning into the makings of a great children’s book!!)
*********************************************
Ethan: Mom, I don’t have my birthday present for you here. You know that guy at my farm that cooks all the time?
Me: Your t-rex?
Ethan: Yep, that’s him. He made you a chocolate teddy bear for your birthday for me, but it’s at my farm so I can’t give it to you.
Me: Oh! Thank you! I love chocolate teddy bears!!

In my eye!!

2008-04-22T15:21:00.001-05:00

March 9, 2008 - Sunday

In my eye!!
Category: Life

Ethan: Hey mom, I need to tell you somefin.
Me: What?
Ethan: I recorded Wow Wow Wubbzy. (yes, that's really a show he watches)
Me: Um...okay
(and that's interesting since you don't have a DVR in your room)
Ethan: I recorded it in my EYE!! Now I can take it with me and watch it at SCHOOL!!!

Again with the TRex....

2008-04-22T15:20:00.001-05:00

March 8, 2008 - Saturday

Again with the TRex....
Category: Life

Again today we had a conversation abou the T-Rex that lives at Ethan's farm and apparently does all the cooking.

Ethan: Mom, you know my T-rex that lives at my farm that cooks the tomato soup?
Me: Yeah.
Ethan: He's a really really good cook. You know how he gots to be a really good cook? He took a cooking class! He even knows how to BATTLE COOK!!!!!
(You know, like on Iron Chef....with the secret ingredient and then they call it the octopus battle, or whatever. That's one of Ethan's favorite shows. He just loves it, and I can't figure out why. He makes me record it for him, and when he misses the beginning, he will watch it all the way to the end, and then restart it to see what he missed. It cracks me up. And he asks me 20,000 questions if I sit and watch it with him.)
So, the conversation continues about how T-Rex can no doubt cook better than I can, and how he is SUPER good.
Ethan: My T-Rex can cook anything. He is SUPER good. He can battle cook and beat ANYBODY! He can even beat Bobby FLAME!!
(LOL....I am cracking up that he thinks Iron Chef Bobby Flay is named Bobby FLAME!!)

I’m making spiced cake...

2008-04-22T15:19:00.000-05:00

March 7, 2008 - Friday

I’m making spiced cake...
Category: Life

Ethan is playing his new Ratatouille video game on his leapster.

Me: What are you doing?
Ethan: I'm making spiced cake. See? He puts it in the pan and then it's spiced cake! I like spiced cake!!
Me: You do?
Ethan: Yep!
Me: Would you like to make some spice cake for real sometime?
Ethan: Yep. I had it before. At my farm.
Me: You did?
Ethan: I didn't make spice cake at my farm. My T-REX made it! He know hows to dooz that. He makes it good.
Me: Oh.
Ethan: You know how I love tomato soup? Even my T-Rex makes tomato soup too! He makes a lot of cans of tomato soup. You know why my T-Rex makes a lot of tomato soup of tomato soup cans? Cause he has to sale it to the store! I tasted it. It was good cause my tongue was in it.

If I were you.....

2008-04-22T15:18:00.000-05:00

If I were you.....
Category: Life

Well, I'll start with Nick this time......

Yesterday, we were getting ready to go pick up Ethan from school, and we were getting Nick dressed and ready to go. I had Nick up on my hip, and I was looking in the playroom for his shoes. Nick looks down, see a shoe, and looks back at me and said, "shoe, shoe mama?" I love that he's really talking now!

His other thing since this weekend is all about his new favorite show....Blue's clues.
Nick: A kwoo, a kwoo!!
Me, Daddy or Ethan: A clue?
Nick: (looking around)Way-yah?? ('Where?' in his baby boston accent)
Us: Where?
Nick: (pointing) THERE!!
Repeat endlessly all day long in between outbursts of :
YI-YI-YO!! (E-I-E-I-O)
kwa, kwa, kwa, kwa (quack quack quack)
YI-YI-YO!!
---AND---
Twickle, twickle stah, (Twinkle twinkle little star....)
how i wubba what wa wa
Twickle twickle stah!! (Again, in the baby boston accent....)

As for Ethan...
Ethan: Mom, you're sick?
Me: Yeah. I have a cold.
Ethan: Mom, if I were you............. I wouldn't be sick!
Me: (Hmmm....yeah if it were only that easy!!)

6 years ago

2008-04-22T15:17:00.001-05:00

March 6, 2008 - Thursday

6 years ago
Category: Life

Yesterday was Ethan's birthday. We got up extra early and went out to breakfast before we dropped him off at school. While I was helping him get dressed, this was our conversation:

Me:Do you know what happened six years ago today?
Ethan: No.
Me: I got to be a mommy for the first time!
Ethan: (looking at me like I'm off my rocker...)
MOM!! You already AM a mommy!!
Me: Not always. Before I had you I wasn't a mommy yet, I was just a regular lady.
Ethan: Huh. (And then...)
Ooooh! I forgot-ted that.

OLD myspace comment:

Ha! that so cute. I often forgot-ted that my mom wasn't a mom at some point. so weird.
anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ETHAN!!!!

Posted by megan on March 6, 2008 - Thursday at 11:38 AM

Mama.....

2008-04-22T15:16:00.000-05:00

March 4, 2008 - Tuesday

Mama.....
Category: Life

Mama, I just took off Nicko's tray.......
and took him out.........
and put him in the play room....
all by myself............
.............................without hurting him!!!!!!

( Huge smile!)

is it?

2008-04-22T15:11:00.002-05:00

February 28, 2008 - Thursday

is it?
Category: Life

Me: We're having giant pizza rolls for lunch.

Ethan: Are they even giant-er than the small ones??

Me: Yep, they're even gianter.

Ethan: That's IMPOSSIBLE!!!

Joe: (looking at this

picture of Ethan with his Valentine stuff):

Joe: Who the hell is THAT??
Me: That's your son!

Chicken Little Practice

2008-04-22T15:10:00.000-05:00

February 23, 2008 - Saturday

Chicken little practice

I was informed this morning that today I needed to do my Chicken Little practice, so I could play videos with Ethan. Once I sat down with him to do my "practice" this is what happened:

(Note the guitar playing fingers and headbanging during the opening song....)

Huh...That’s weird!!

2008-04-22T15:08:00.001-05:00

Huh...That’s weird!!
Category: Life

Ethan: MOM!! Where was you?
Me: (You mean for the whole 90 seconds I was out of sight?) I was on the moon.
Ethan: Which room was you in?
Me: I was on the MOON.
Ethan: Oh. How'd you get down here so quickly? (Not disbelief, not laughter, not why were you on the moon, not you're crazy mom, just... how'd you get back so fast?)
Me: How do you think I got back down here?
Ethan: A rocketship?
Me: Nope.
Ethan: A airplane?
Me: No
Ethan: An umbrella??
Me: Yep, I came back on an umbrella.
Ethan: That's how you got here so fast, on an umbrella???
Me: Yep.
Ethan: Huh. THAT's weird!

OLD Myspace comment:

oh yeah... that's weird part. love that kid.

Posted by megan on February 23, 2008 - Saturday at 4:58 PM

just a quickie

2008-04-22T15:06:00.000-05:00

February 22, 2008 - Friday

just a quickie
Category: Life

Okay, I'm really in the middle of cleaning the bathroom, and I really need to get that actually DONE, so this is just a quickie, and I'll post a LOT more later, BUT

We stopped at the video store on the way home today and Ethan got one of the freebie kids movies...Scooby Doo and the reluctant werewolf. He's watching it, and as I walk by he says,
Mom, what do those words say?
Me: Hmmm? I don't know honey. That's in French. Has it been in French the whole time?
Ethan: No.
Me: Okay. (That's weird that the bad guys are speaking French, but whatever...)

AT LEAST 30 minutes later.....
I walk by again, and notice they are still speaking French, with the subtitles at the bottom. So it's not just the bad guys, it's the whole darn movie. IN FRENCH!! And Ethan has been sitting here for the last hour and 20 minutes watching it without interruption! I am really not such a big Scooby Doo fan, but I have to say, Scooby and Shaggy are pretty funny in French! ( Mind you I don't speak any French, so that helps!! :)

AND....
as I'm sitting here typing, not having said a word to Ethan, he suddenly picks up the controller, pushes a button, and says "Now that's better.... IT just needed to be on number 1! Now that's better." And now they are magically speaking English with spanish subtitles at the bottom of the screen!

I am cracking up!!

You’re a genius...

2008-04-22T15:05:00.001-05:00

February 17, 2008 - Sunday

You’re a genius...
Category: Life

Me: Tomorrow we might go to the park if it's nice out.
Ethan: No we didn't.
Me: TOMORROW, we might go to the park if it's nice out.
Ethan: Oh. And if it's not nice out we won't go to the park.
Me: You're a genius.
Ethan: No, I'm not. I don't know what 300 plus 3 is!

OLD myspace comment:

When I need a moment of laughter, I come to read your blog! Hilarious!!! I love it.

Posted by Christina on February 21, 2008 - Thursday at 10:51 AM

Maybe you’ve had too many....

2008-04-22T15:02:00.000-05:00

February 17, 2008 - Sunday

Maybe you’ve had too many....
Category: Life

Last night, we got out the new (to us) ping pong table and got it set up for the first time. Ethan played a bit with Joe, and absolutely loves it. He's not bad, either. Just a little short for the table!

So, after dinner, I finally had a chance to play. If you ever want to laugh until your sides hurt, come and watch me play ping-pong. I LOVE it!! It's so much fun. I, however, am spectacularly HORRIBLE at it! I'm so bad I make myself laugh at me! Really, I laughed until my stomach hurt last night! Somehow, if the ball goes to my right AT ALL, there is this blindspot in my brain. I swear, there is just a hole of nothingness, and if I have to reach over there with the paddle to try and hit the ball, I am always confused. I can't tell where I need the paddle to be, I can't tell where the ball is going to be, I can't swing the paddle and try to hit the ball, I end up (EVERY darn TIME!!!) just blindly reaching out to a spot that is not even close, holding the paddle in that spot, cringing, and waiting for the ball to COME and hit the paddle. It's really funny to watch, I'm sure, because I really can't do more than that. If the balls comes in front of me, or to the left, I'm fine, and I can usually hit it (sometimes wildly into the ceiling, the light, or some other crazy spot), but at least I can usually hit it. So, it goes like this: Ping-pong-ping-pong-ping- CRINGE and let the ball go by. WHAT is up with that?

Well, Ethan, the expert advice giver, was watching Joe try to teach me how to play, and just couldn't quit talking. Mom, do this. Mom, you have to do that. Meanwhile, Joe is explaining all the 17 different rules in scoring the game, and keeps telling me that you play it like tennis. I'VE NEVER PLAYED TENNIS! Really, honey, when in the last 12 years have you ever seen me play or watch tennis? Seriously, he did a really good job explaining it to me, and being patient with having to start a new serve every 2.4 seconds, but it was REALLY hard to concentrate with Ethan yabbering away on the sidelines too. Eventually, after about a half dozen times of me just cringing and letting the ball go by to the right, I was explaining the "black hole" to Joe and laughing at myself. Ethan offered up this priceless explanation:

Ethan: Mommy I think you've had too many drinks!
Joe: Did you hear that? He said you've had too much to drink!
(We're both laughing because I really am playing as bad as if I'd had too much to drink!)
Me: Yeah, I've had too many sweet teas! LOL That's not what he said though.Say it again, Ethan.
Ethan: I said Mommy you've had too many DREAMS!! That's why you can't play so well!

So I guess that's the kid version of you've had too much to drink??

Priceless!!

OLD MYspace comment:

How fun!! My husband is like a regular Forest Gump at Ping Pong! When he tried to teach me, he said the SAME THING about tennis. When in my life have I EVER played tennis???
I did crack up at the "black hole" in the brain. I have that too!

Posted by Christina on February 21, 2008 - Thursday at 10:51 AM

Do you ever wonder...

2008-04-22T15:01:00.000-05:00

February 13, 2008 - Wednesday

Do you ever wonder...
Category: Life

Do you ever wonder about things just as you're ready to fall asleep at night? These are the strange questions Ethan wanted answered as we were falling asleep last night:

"Mom, do flies bite people?"

"What about ladybugs? Do ladybugs bite people?"

"Why are there stinger bugs (wasps, etc) in Texas?"

"Mom, what are dogs afraid of?"

That’s the bestest...

2008-04-22T15:00:00.000-05:00

February 12, 2008 - Tuesday

That’s the bestest...
Category: Life

We were reading bedtime stories last night, and Ethan chose An Underwater Alphabet. We get to the F page.....

"F is for Four Eyed Butterfly Fish"

and Ethan cracks up!

"Mommy!! That's the bestest fish I never hear-ed of!!"

Needless to say I cracked up over that! I was laughing so much that he put his hand over my mouth and said, "mommy, don't laugh so much!!"

I always kiss him and tell him thank you for making me laugh, which makes him smile.

Before that when I was giving the boys their baths, Ethan was talking about how he could do something or other that Nick couldn't do.
"I can do that because I'm 5-er than Nick. You know, like I'm long-ER than Nick, that means I'm more long than him. I'm 5-er than him too!"

Can't fault his logic on that one. He IS more 5 (older) than Nick. Not his fault English doesn't always follow the rules!

OLD Myspace comment:

If he only knew how many other people "laugh so much!" :)

Posted by Christina on February 21, 2008 - Thursday at 10:53 AM

You’re taking a movie.....of what?

2008-04-22T14:59:00.001-05:00

February 8, 2008 - Friday

You’re taking a movie.....of what?

Ethan may not like jumping in the leaves with the dog, but they do enjoy this together:

(Trying to eat the water coming out of the sprinkler)

Yes, it was almost 80 again today!

Oh, and at bedtime/storytime Ethan pointed to a map and said:
"My new grandma lives here (in Georgia) and I'm from here (Nevada) and my little brother lives here (Mexico). My brother didn't DIE!! He's here now (nevada) with me!!"

Slightly disturbing, right?

How is it that...

2008-04-22T14:53:00.000-05:00

February 7, 2008 - Thursday

How is it that...

Warning: This may make laugh until you cry or pee your pants (or both!)

But first.....How is it that guys can spending hours in the bathroom, making their own stinky messes (with the heater on to make the smell worse) and then have this reaction to a little tiny diaper?

What doesn’t belong?

2008-04-19T09:02:00.002-05:00

February 6, 2008 - Wednesday

What doesn’t belong?
Category: Life

This afternoon I opened the dishwasher, and realized that after I ran it last night, I had started to fill it again with more dirty dishes. Yeah (Happy Dance!) That means I don't have to unload it right now! So, I start to pile in more dirty dishes, silverware, etc that those pesky dirty dish elves left all over my kitchen today. Those nasty little elves just love to visit and make a mess when I'm not looking, and to top it off, the "Dish Fairy" (you know, the one who sneaks in and DOES the dishes for you when you're not looking) well, the Dish Fairy either A) Doesn't have our new address, or B) is not legally allowed to cross state lines. I'm not sure which, but she never comes around anymore!
So, I'm loading stuff in, toss a spoon in the silverware caddy, and do a double take. Now, what doesn't belong here?

Yep, that is a full size, partially eaten carrot right along with the spoons and forks! Well, I think, how did that get there? My first thought is that I'm losing my mind again. Did I really put a CARROT in the silverware caddy? Then I think, okay, I'm really losing it. That's Baaadddd!!! WAIT! Maybe it wasn't me. But who EVER puts stuff in the dishwasher? Hmmmm.....well, let's ask anyway, on the .00008 percent chance that I'm NOT losing my mind.
Me: Ethan, did you clean up your dinner stuff last night?
Ethan: Yep!
Me: Did you put it in the sink or the dishwasher? (Please, please, please say the dishwasher, even though you've never put dirty dishes in there after dinner, EVER in your little life!)
Ethan: The dishwasher! (With a big grin like aren't you so proud of me?!!!)
Me: Hey, GREAT JOB!!! (Woo-hoo!! I'm not a total nutcase!) Way to go buddy! Thanks for helping!
Ethan: (Just smiles and goes back to playing games...)

I'll tell him when he's older about the time he put a carrot in the dishwasher and made me think I was crazy!!! :)

Ethan hates it, but the dog loves it.....

2008-04-19T09:01:00.002-05:00

February 5, 2008 - Tuesday

Ethan hates it, but the dog loves it.....

So Ethan hates playing in the leaves, and always has (sad since we have 5 dozen trees worth of leaves in the yard...) BUT the dog LOVES it!

Going to school

2008-04-19T09:00:00.003-05:00

February 3, 2008 - Sunday

Going to school
Category: Life

I scored big points on the cool mom scale for this one:

We were getting ready to leave for school one morning, and it was too cold to walk, so I told Ethan I'd have to take him in the truck.

Ethan: Mom, who used to take you to school when you were a little girl?
Me: Grandma.
Ethan: (in AWE) You used to live at GRANDMA'S????
Me; (LMAO) yes, honey, Grandma's my mom, remember?
Ethan: (I could see him do a mental head slap)- Uh.....Oh yeah. I forgot-ted that.

LOL.....I love that kid!!

What does this spell?

2008-04-19T08:58:00.001-05:00

February 2, 2008 - Saturday

What does this spell?
Category: Life

Ethan: Mom, what does this spell? ( EhaKLOJGLOG) I wrote this when I was four. What does it say?
Mom: I don't think it spells anything. It's just a bunch of letters.
Ethan: No, it's a word.
Me: Well, it's not an English word then. It must be an 'Ethan' word.
Ethan: Yep. That's it. I wrote it in "I-grad-ios". That's what I write in.
Me: That's your language that you write in?
Ethan: Yep. I write in "I-grad-ios". That's my language.

See, haven't I always said he has his own language? Now I'll just have to remember to call it "I-grad-ios" instead of Ethan-ese!!

Cool prizes

2008-04-19T08:55:00.002-05:00

January 31, 2008 - Thursday

Cool prizes
Category: Life

So, I open up Ethan's daily folder from school on Tuesday and find this HUGE stuffed envelope, along with a note from the school.

Dear Parent,
This is our ONE and ONLY fundraiser for the year. Please support the school by taking orders for magazine subscriptions and renewals. (oh...really....one and only fundraiser...so what was all that crap I ordered in October for? Was that just an inside joke? Here, let's send home these catalogs and see which silly parent buys the most junk.
And yes, it's ALL junk. I've seen it go through my classroom when I was teaching. The stuff that goes home is so cheesy and tacky it barely resembles what was advertised in the order catalog. Hmmm.....can you tell I HATE fundraisers? Anyway...

The letter goes on to say that students are supposed to fill out these postcards with addresses of people they know to ask them to renew or order a magazine. Turn in at least 7 different postcards completed, and you get a prize. Then there are actual catalogs and order forms that we're supposed to send around too and get people to place orders.
Then the order forms are turned in to the school. "Turn in days are Tuesday, Thursday, and the following Tuesday." What? What do you mean turn in days are only on Tuesdays and Thursdays? You're telling me you won't accept them on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday? And why 3 different deadlines to turn in orders? THIS is STUPID! It's DUMB! RIDICULOUS! Do you see why I hate these things?

So needless to say, I'm not taking orders. I'd rather just make a donation to the PTA directly. Let's see...I would have ordered a magazine for $20, and the school would have gotten 8 bucks. Yep. That's it. I think I'd rather write a check to the PTA for $20.

I did, however, have Ethan fill out the postcards to get his prize, so he wouldn't feel left out. No one has to buy anything, he wins a prize just for completing enough cards. Beyond that, he'd have to sell about 2.4 million dollars in sales to win a cheesy slinky or something (the prizes are even junkier than the junk they sell), so it's not worth it! Of course, the money does go to the school, but then again he's not exactly going to school in the 'hood, is he? :)

Well, the next day, Ethan gets in the truck and says he got his prize. What is it? He wouldn't tell me. He was too tired and grumpy. So we just kept on driving to meet some friends to play and have lunch. Well, I found out soon enough anyway....

You want to know what Ethan got as his prize for filling out all the postcards? A "Mosquito Prankster". Yes, this lovely little toy makes annoying buzzing sounds, just like a mosquito. Or, if it falls on the floor of your truck while you are driving down the highway, it sounds like someone honking at you.....
Honk......honkhonkhonkhonk.....hooooonnnnnnnkkkkkk!!
And the boys were in "sleep mode" of course,
Sleep mode looks like this:

Aren't you impressed I got such a good picture while driving down the highway? Not really...Megan took that one for me after an equally exciting day of glow in the dark lunar mini golf...

So we're driving down the highway being honked at, and I had no idea that this was the cool prize handed out at school. So I'm looking around thinking ????? Who the hell is honking at me? There's nobody even around me!! Honk....honnnnnnkkkk....honkhonk...honk!!
Finally it dawns on me that it must be us honking at ourselves (somehow)...LOL...so everytime we hit a bump we got HonK!! HOnnnnnnK!! HOnk... all the way until we got to Chuck E. Cheese....but that's another torture story!!

Random thoughts....

2008-04-19T08:54:00.001-05:00

January 26, 2008 - Saturday

Random thoughts....
Category: Life

Random Thoughts, by Jack Handey.
Ooops, I mean, by E.B. the 5 year old....

I figured out how to use the voice record function on my phone. (Much easier than trying to remember and write it all down!) This is what I got today:

Ethan: Mom, do you know what pet I had-ded?
Me: What pet did you have?
Ethan: I had-ded a horse! It was a baby horse, and I fed him milk! And when he got to a grown up I told him to do somefing, and he LISTENED, 'cause he didn't have anything in his ear. He had nothing.
Me: He had nothing?
Ethan: On his ear? He had nothing on his ear. (I wonder if he's thinking headphones, like the kid with headphones on who just ran out in the street in front of our truck?) He listened, and he was good. He was good to me. He was listening. And I liked him.
Me: What kind of a horse was he?
Ethan: Ummmm......I didn't know. He was a grown up horse...... I think........oh yeah, he's NOT a dino horse!!!! That would be a bad one!

************************************************
ETHAN: I can't say my phone number. It's too many numbers. My phone number is:
2-
100,000-
2-
8,000-
300
and a 1,000- 100.
That's my phone number. I can't even...I can't even make all those numbers! And 9,000!!!! That's my last phone number.

Ethan:And, I had a baby too.
Me: You had a baby? When did you have a baby?
Ethan: (Clearly not expecting THAT question) Uh....I don't know when I had a baby. Not a baby that's REAL!!!
Me: What kind of baby then?
Ethan: (Cleverly changing the subject...) I have 2 pets. I have 3 pets. I have 3 pets.
Me: You have 3 pets?
Ethan: Yeah. I have a horse, uh..I have not a mouse....... I had-ded a cow, and .........a duck. I have a pond. For my duck! My house is far away. Far, far, far. In North Texas. **Sigh**...You know what my number on my house is? 2992.
Me: (hmm...maybe we need to work on our address and phone again!) Is that the number on your house at your farm?
Ethan: Yeah. The farm is....I have a farm in my house. Not in my house.... I have a farm at my backyard. Even I have a ocean. My yard is HUUUUUUUUGGGGGGEEEEEEEE. My yard is huge.
Me: Your yard is huge? ( I guess it has to be to fit an ocean in the middle of Texas!)
Ethan:Yeah! Even I made a beach.
Me: You made a beach?
Ethan: Yeah, For my killer whale! (oh course! every killer whale needs his own beach, right?) and my shark. And I have NO starfish.
Me: No starfish? (Hmm...Wonder if the starfish got voted off the island because of that show he watched yesterday where they were destroying the coral reefs?)
Ethan: And I had an octopus! I do! At my house. I'm really serious. You want to see what my back yard huge is? It's this (holding arms all the way apart) huge. It's 100 long.

It's been awhile

2008-04-19T08:51:00.001-05:00

January 13, 2008 - Sunday

Ethan: Mom, I'm vaccumming! This is my special way of cleaning these things up!

Now, if you know Ethan at all, or if you've read any of my older blogs, you should be asking yourself WHAT are these things he's trying to clean up??
I'll give you three guesses............

NOPE that's not it............guess again......

Wrong again........one more try.......

No, sorry! That's not it either. GIVE UP?
...
...
...
...
...
...
PEAS. Yes, peas. Ethan is sitting and eating dinner. His special request for dinner was green beans and peas. Nothing else. Just peas and green beans. No taco, no burrito, no pb & J, just veggies. Okay by me. At least it's healthy! (My 5 year old loves broccoli too!)
So he's eating, and I hear this huge slurping sound, so I ask him what he's doing. And I get the "Mom, I'm vaccumming! This is my special way of cleaning these things up! SLURRRRPPPP....." as my answer. And he is actually sucking up peas like a Hoover vaccuum.

O-kay...(guess I need the camera for this one....)

Yes, I know I'm a terrible mother. I should be teaching him better table manners, not taking pictures of him vaccumming up peas. But it was too funny to not get on camera!

I snapped another picture, and it just wasn't getting the full effect. You have to see it and HEAR it too......Sooo........ Here you go. I'm sharing the love. Make sure your volume is on so you get the full effect and don't miss the surprise ending!

Now, I never expected for him to get peas up his nose. How lucky am I to get that on film? How exactly does one suck something up the nose while sucking stuff into the mouth? I didn't think that was physically possible, but of course my EB can do it! :) I'm a terrible mom to think that's so funny too, but it was hilarious. By the way, the peas came right back out of his nose, and that was the end of the pea vaccuumming!

It's been awhile since Ethan has done something TRULY hilarious. This is not quite PANDA video funny, but I was still laughing my butt off!! Bad mommy!

Old myspace comments
ask joe about peanuts in the nose. Or do you know that one??????
Posted by Sooner96 on January 15, 2008 - Tuesday at 1:04 AM

priceless!!! LOVE IT! Posted by Christina on January 25, 2008 - Friday at 1:12 PM

He strikes again

2008-04-19T08:50:00.001-05:00

January 8, 2008 - Tuesday

He strikes again
Category: Life

Okay, the 'upside down art' bandit has struck again....this time in the boys room....

And here he is..........the artist formerly know as "EB":Actually, I do think I remember him telling me that we are all supposed to start calling him "Rex" when he turns six. Get ready everyone!

And not to be left out, poor little Nicholas with a fever and ear infections really ate lunch today for the first time in several days. Applesauce, JELLO, and american cheese........YUM-O! Hey, he's happy, right?

How long do you think it will be before "Yum-O" ends up on one of those banned words lists?

January Limbo

2008-04-19T08:49:00.000-05:00

January 7, 2008 - Monday

A picture is worth a thousand words, right?

Today is JANUARY 7th, 2008:

And here it is LIVE:
(after looking at this again today, maybe I should mention that it was 80 degrees outside, and that I'm not actually aiming the hose AT him. I was too lazy to unhook the hose and move it closer, so I'm trying to reach that evergreen in the background to give it a drink. )
(Sorry these are on here twice....couldn't get the 2nd set deleted!)

Yes, it’s January....

2008-04-19T08:48:00.001-05:00

January 5, 2008 - Saturday

Yes, it’s January....
Category: Life

Yes, it is January, but this is the song Ethan has been singing for the last 2 days:

The first day of Christmas, the da da did to me.....a one... hole.... pear.... tree.....

The second day of Christmas the da da did to me.......two turtle dubbs, and a one....hole....pear....tree......

The ferd day of Christmas the da da did to me......three....whole hens, two turtle dubbs, and a one.....hole....pear.....tree.....

That's all he "knows". I can't bring myself to tell him he's off a bit....it's too fun to listen to him sing the wrong words all day!

Have a great day!

2008-04-19T08:46:00.001-05:00

Friday January 4th, 2008

Have a great day....
Category: Life

It has been too cold in the mornings this week for us to walk to school as usual, so I've been driving Ethan and dropping him off at the school door. He really doesn't like this because I can't/won't walk him all the way into the building, but he's still been good about doing it anyway (at least this week).

So this morning, we pull up, he gives me a hug, and when we get to the front of the line he hops out. This is the goodbye as he went out the door:

Me: Love you.
Ethan: Love you too Mom!
Me: Have a great day!
Ethan: Happy Valentine's Day Mom!

Then he was gone. I'm glad he didn't see me laughing at him! You just never know what he's going to say!!

Old comment from Myspace:

Yay! I love laughing first thing in the morning.
You know... if there was a guarantee that I would have such an awesomely random child, I would consider having a kid.

Posted by megan on January 4, 2008 - Friday at 1:58 PM

Pictionary

2008-04-19T08:44:00.002-05:00

January 2, 2008 - Wednesday

Pictionary
Category: Life

One of Ethan's favorite games is Pictionary, but we never have enough people

around to play. We had enough people at Thanksgiving, so we played then.

Ethan had his own turns drawing, and this is what he drew for 'front row'

which honestly beat the pants off of what I tried to draw for front row!!

It is the front row at a movie theater, complete with an emergency exit door!!

The other clue he had was "money train". I told him to draw some

money and a train. I guess money train didn't make any sense to him,

so this is what he drew:

It's a MOMMY TRAIN!! It's a mom riding a train. A Mommy Train!

I thought that was hilarious. I guess it makes more sense to a

5 year old then a money train!

Since he loves the game so much, he got a Disney Pictionary DVD game

for Christmas which we played today. Here's what he came up with:

Can you guess what it is? It's a campsite! There's Jerame (the person

with the J over their head) because Jerame goes to camp, a tent and a tree!

Here's another one:

DvD of course.
Can you guess this one?

IT's a lighthouse. The zig zags are "Stairs so you can go up to the top".

And finally:

This is what he drew for "planet". Specifically he says it's "Mars.

Mars is very very brown."

Want to hear a funny joke?

2008-04-19T08:41:00.000-05:00

January 2, 2008 Wednesday

Want to hear a funny joke?
Category: Life

Ethan: Want to hear a funny joke?

How does a macaroni get out of the soup?

It boils!
(Hmmm...did you get your inspiration from the pantry where we're looking for lunch?)

See, I made you laugh Mom!! ( Yes, but not for the reason you think!)

How does a bean get stuck in your ear?
It farts! It farts up!!

(Yep, definitely looking in the pantry for inspiration!!)

Ha ha ha ha! My jokes are FUNNY! My jokes make ME laugh!!

Mom, are you writing my stuff on there?

Me: Yes, I'm writing your jokes.
Ethan: You put fart on there! F for fart!! Fart, fart, fart, fart, fart, fart, fart!!
Fart...NUT!!
FART
FART
FART....

NUT
NUT
NUT....
they don't rhyme!
Fart Nut. Fart Nut!!!!

(Is it time for school to start again yet?????????)

*******************************************************

Ethan: Mom, MOM!! MOM!!! Hurry!!!! QUICK!!!! MOM!!!
Me: (Running in to see what the EMERGENCY is...) What?
Ethan: JOE left this in here....I mean, My DAD, left this in here. (He hands me a measuring tape). Ha, I said Joe first instead of my Dad! That's what my cousins say. They call him Joe. Ha ha ha.

Right now he is in the other room playing with/screaming at Nick.
"Nick, I love you. I SAID I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU, okay?! I SAID I love you!!"

....It's hilarious. The tone of his voice is just total frustration/irritation .....not in sync with his words at all!!

New Year's Eve Pictures

2008-04-19T08:38:00.000-05:00

K’NEX Serpent Spiral Coaster

2008-04-19T08:36:00.001-05:00

December 31, 2007 - Monday

Ethan asked Santa for the K'NEX serpent spiral coaster this year. Santa delivered, and Daddy and Ethan have been building it on and off for 3 days. It's only 1,118 pieces! And it's taller than Ethan who is 4 feet tall! Ethan did at least half of the actual construction with dad's help. He LOVES it!!

This is what Ethan has to say about it after it's up and running:

This is what it looks like in action:

Cool, huh? Nick likes it too. He says, "Again!!" and "Toot toot" I guess because he thinks its a train!

Happy New Year

2008-04-19T08:32:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year!!

Wishing all of you

a happy and FUN 2008!!!!