15 Minutes

Arr!

2011-09-22T14:50:00.002-05:00

Monday was Talk Like a Pirate Day. We did more than talk like a pirate - we were pirates. Arrr, me hearties. There was a lot of walking the plank and even more bad pirate jokes.

What's a pirate's favorite state?

Arrrr-kansas (its Kansas for pirates)

What's a pirates favorite vegetable?

Arrr-tichokes!

What's a pirates favorite sea?

The arrr-tic.

And so on. Thankfully the kiddos, I mean, pirates, were bored with being in costume before we left for Target. Although, I've taken superheroes to Target, so I guess pirates would be allowed at Target, too.

I need to find more holidays that involve dressing up.

Gym Class

2011-09-22T14:47:00.002-05:00

They can do this for hours!

Cause and Effect

2011-09-12T14:04:00.002-05:00

This weeks book is "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" so we are working on cookies (delicious and educational) and cause and effect. Like:

If you decide to homeschool your kids

your groceries will probably get eaten before they get put away.

Off to the Kitchen Table (School)!

2011-09-06T14:58:00.003-05:00

Going "back to school" involved the following: sleeping in (until 8:30 which is somewhat of a miracle in this house), doing long awaited school work in our PJ's around the kitchen table (Baba has been BEGGING to do school since we started summer break) and the requisite first day of school picture for posterity. Rudy started what she calls Princess Preschool which mostly involves a lot of coloring and pretending to read and write like her big brother who is in his second year at Scooby Doo Elementary. Guess who named the school? Not me! Panthalassa slept through the adventures.

Funny thing about that first day of school picture. When school is around the kitchen table EVERYONE does school. Including the cat. So everyone had to be in the picture. Including the cat. Mister Wili insisted on walking in front of the camera several times and making the kids laugh hysterically.

:

At least the kids thought it was funny and perhaps if I photo-shop the pictures together. Of course that would entail learning to photo-shop. Hmmm. Maybe Baba can learn photo-shop next week at Scooby Doo Elementary.

Princess Flower Girl

2011-05-25T15:54:00.002-05:00

Rudy was in her first wedding this past weekend. She was a total doll. Thought she needed to be in EVERY picture - including the ones of just the bride and groom. She loved wearing her "princess flower girl" dress, loved the shoes, the curls, and the flowers in her hair. She listened so well all day (usually, listening and following directions is a HUGE challenge for her) that I'm thinking about letting her wear her flower girl dress all day, every day.

I'll be listing her on craigslist if anyone needs a flower girl. =)

Who Needs Sleep?

2011-05-25T11:45:00.003-05:00

You know how you are supposed to put down a baby when they are still awake so they learn to drift off to dreamland on their own? Yeah, always thought that was bullwhickey. When Baba was a baby the ONLY way to get him asleep was to walk, quickly, in circles so he would get dizzy and close his eyes. I think he napped for a total of 4 hours between the time he was born until he turned 3 years old when we gave up on napping.

Rudy, on the other hand, has always been a good napper (granted she outgrew that business almost a year ago now), but her napping was a production that involved 5 to 15 minutes of screaming at the top of her lungs to let me know that she was NOT tired (riiiight!) and was NOT going to nap. I always won.

Today, the older kids were hungry so I laid Panthalassa in her crib to throw some lunch together. She was AWAKE. She fell asleep on her own and is still sleeping 45 minutes later. I do believe in miracles!

I would also like to know how it is that my two month old sleeps better than my six year old. Panthalassa slept 12 hours last night. Baba stalled until 9 pm when he finally lost his battle with sleep and was up his usual 6. He was moaning in his sleep again (hello nightmares, go away!) and is a little tired (read: teary eyed) today.

Bad Guys!

2011-03-17T09:27:00.004-05:00

There is a girl who lives across the street whom we call Annoying Neighbor Girl, ANG, because, well, she's annoying, she's a neighbor, and she's a girl. She is also bossy, obnoxious, disrespectful, and if she was my child she'd get slapped if she acted how she does. I am not above hiding in the basement when she rings the doorbell and pretending we aren't home.

Yesterday, she come over BEFORE Baba made it home from school. She asked if she could wait for him to come home on our front step. Um, no. Baba doesn't really like playing with her (hmmm, wonder why) so I always like to give him an out. There has been a couple times when she's been here waiting for him to get off the bus and he has burst into tears and said, "What is she doing here? I don't wanna play with her." Polite? Not really, but you'd think she'd get the hint. Which she doesn't. I sent her home. Baba's bus comes and he runs up the driveway, excited to be home. She slinks up the driveway so I don't notice and she can play.

Baba wants to play so I let her come over (just call me Mother Theresa). I specifically tell Baba to do the best he can to stay out of the puddles in the backyard because its not that warm, the water will be freezing, and snow pants are not SCUBA gear. I look out the window to check on ANG and see her standing over a sled full of water and Baba SITTING in a puddle. I open the door, tell her to go home, and Baba to get in the house. NOW.

Although, I don't yell, I do make Baba burst into tears because he knows that I'm not happy (and when Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy). He comes in the house and I begin interrogation only to find out that ANG told him to sit in the puddle because that was part of the game. Because I am such a good person, I do not run across the street to strange the girl (by the way, she is in 3rd grade). Baba and I discuss how its always okay for him to say, "No!" if someone asks him to do something he knows is wrong (like sitting in a puddle in his snow pants). And Zippy and I are always willing to be the bad guys. If he doesn't want to do something, he can always say that his parents would kill him if he did it. Easy out.

Fast forward to dinner. Rudy has downed her usual half a gallon of milk and wants more so she turns to Zippy and says, "More milk, bad guy!" Turns out they do listen to my lectures. At least, they pick out the best parts.

Panthalassa

2011-02-26T16:54:00.003-06:00

This morning we had a 3D/4D ultrasound done for fun and it was fun. We were lucky enough that my grandparents (Panthalassa's great grandparents) were able to attend as well as my aunt, baby cuz, parents, Little Ditty, Poonch II, and my cute little family.

She looks likes she is ready to fight! Baba was a little disappointed she didn't have a lightsaber and/or sword in my belly, but soon enough her brother will have her armed and ready to battle.

Baba gets his wish granted

2010-07-09T17:32:00.002-05:00

As most of you know, Baba has been lobbying for another sister since we brought Rudy home from the hospital.

Its kind of hard to see, but Josh is looking at our stick figure family on the window of the Jeep. This morning I sneaked out and added a baby picture. We ran errands and he just wouldn't noticed so as soon as Zippy got home from work we headed out with the camera. Baba is so EXCITED!

If Baba had a million dollars

2010-06-05T13:32:00.002-05:00

Zippy and I took Baba to the Saints game last Saturday night. On the way to the game, we stopped at a gas station to get a lottery ticket (the powerball was up to $200 million - I could get a lot of pedi's for $200 million). Baba asked what a lottery ticket was (we buy them all the time, can't you tell?) and I told him its a game for big people - you give the game a dollar, you pick 6 numbers (I think, again, we don't do this often) and if you match all the numbers you win a lot of money. I asked him what he would do if we won the lottery.

He thought for half a second and said, "Take my sister shoe shopping."

I love that kid.

Grapes

2010-05-04T11:31:00.004-05:00

I solved the mystery of the missing grapes.....

I guess I should be proud - they worked together, without fighting, to solve a problem - how to get to the grapes I had just washed in the sink.

Its quiet, too quiet.....

2010-04-18T20:44:00.002-05:00

There is nothing worse than quiet kids. Quiet kids are ALWAYS up to no good. My kids were quiet so I went to investigate.

Stinker!

2010-03-24T12:03:00.001-05:00

Who, who?

2010-01-19T09:32:00.003-06:00

Call me a bad mom, but my children do not listen to kids music. Baba may go to kindergarten not knowing that if he is happy and he knows it he should clap his hands, but at least he'll be able to sing "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Is you is, or is you ain't my baby" among others.

Rudy is at the point where she is repeating or attempting to repeat EVERYTHING we say. She also tries to do everything her big brother does. Lately, Baba has been into "Who let the dogs out?" and jazz music.

Harry Potter Brushes His Teeth

2010-01-15T17:47:00.005-06:00

I was getting dressed one morning and returned to the bathroom to find this:

I've got to remember to close the loopholes! I said, "Brush your teeth." I forgot to add, "Don't empty out my drawer and wear my headbands as belts. Please do not add accessories to these belts. Please do not act surprised when I am less than pleased that you took EVERYTHING out of my drawer."

Gingerbread House

2009-11-30T16:21:00.004-06:00

I've always had a dream of making a gingerbread house (pretty lofty dreams, I know) and I've never done it. Today when I was waiting for my prescription to get filled, I saw a "Candy Cane Cottage" gingerbreadish house kit for $1. Perfect!

So while Rudy napped, Baba and I created....

We created a large mess and ate a lot of frosting. Mmmm, frosting. Before I could stop him, Baba dived in.

Oddly enough, my house is sticky.

Gobble! Gobble! Gobble!

2009-11-26T08:33:00.003-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving from my little turkeys. When Baba a.k.a Harry Potter saw Rudy a.k.a. Ginny Weasley he said, "She looks so beautiful, I feel like dancing with her." So they danced.

Because NOTHING says, "Happy Thanksgiving!" like a dance party in the kitchen (when we are running late and now are running even later because they were so darn cute I had to take pictures and then blog about the morning's festivities).

Alas, poor blogrick, I knew him well....

2009-10-16T15:16:00.004-05:00

I'm blaming my lack of blogging on the packing. Most definitely the packing's fault. And since we move in a week (Ahhhh!) I really should be packing instead of blogging, but I'm on break (union job, you know).

The children have been most, um, "helpful." Baba is old enough to really, really want to help but not old enough to actually be any help. He did, however, very proudly pack two boxes all by himself. I have no idea what is in the boxes (all he let me do was tape them up. Fingers crossed.), but I know Rudy didn't end up in a box, so how bad can it be? The boxes Baba packed we had to label "Baba packed all by himself" so at least I'll be prepared for the surprise. I guess.

I must admit that while packing, I am not as vigilant in the watching of the offspring as I usually am. The children are most pleased by this development.

A couple weeks ago, my sister-in-law posted something along the lines of watching a TV show on hoarding and if you couldn't walk across her apartment to stage an intervention because the hoarders logic made since. I am somewhat of a hoarder - mostly due to my grocery shopping rules. I may be moving 29 boxes of cereal, but if the cereal is under a dollar a box, I have to buy it. That's the rule.

After taping a box and labeling, I realized that the entire box was filled with cereal, salad dressing, ketchup, and BBQ sauce. Maybe I am a hoarder. Hopefully my sister-in-law is not around when we open that box, she may stage an intervention for me. But, in my defense, all of the salad dressing, ketchup, and BBQ was free and we will eat it.

Eventually.

Dollhouses

2009-09-09T10:34:00.002-05:00

Baba has been begging for a dollhouse for about a year now. I said I wanted to build one for him and his sister (which I still do), but don't have the time or the space to do so.

When I was out running last weekend, I ran by a garage sale that had one of those plastic little tike's dollhouses for $10. Score! I asked how long they were going to be open for and she said they were closing. I said I could run home and be back in 10 minutes. She said I could take it with me now. I declined (Um, how am I supposed to run (or walk for that matter) home carrying a super bulky and somewhat heavy dollhouse with accessories?).

I ran home as fast as I could, panted to Baba that there was a garage sale and we needed to hurry. He ran outside sans shoes in his excitement. After locating shoes and some water for me, we were off. We get out of the car at the garage sale and Baba says, pointing to the dollhouse, "Let's buy that!"

The little girl who had been the previous owner of the dollhouse looked at Baba and said, "Why are you buying a dollhouse" in her snottiest voice.

I told her we like dolls at our house, failing to see the problem with a four year old boy playing with a dollhouse. I wish she could have seen Baba playing this morning. He ran downstairs, excited and out of breath, yelling, "Stormtroopers have stormed the dollhouse!"

Its just a number....

2009-08-14T17:50:00.002-05:00

I told my hubby he was getting old because he's almost 30.

He said, "In guys years that only 20. In lady years you are 80."

It's all relative.

The Almost Great Minnesota Get Together

2009-08-07T15:34:00.003-05:00

I had promised the children I would take them to the county fair yesterday. Rudy's vocabulary is pretty limited so her response involved lots of "bananas!" and "burps!", but Baba was pretty pumped. Then I broke my baby toe Wednesday night (if it swells any larger, its going to beat my big toe in the biggest toe on my foot contest).

I was on pins and needles all thursday morning, hoping that Baba had forgotten about the fair. I had asked him a couple times what he wanted to do today. If he wasn't going to bring it up, I certainly wasn't going to volunteer that it was supposed to be fair day. I was perfectly content to eat tylenol while sitting on the couch with my foot elevated (and my children are so patient and understanding when Mom is injured). I asked him a couple times what he wanted to do today. I got the usual: watch Star Wars, play Star Wars on the Wii, have lightsaber battles, eat, etc. I thought I was home free. Then, right after lunch, he remember. He promised to be good until Christmas, so I buddy-wrapped, slide my poor foot into my biggest tennis shoes and off we hubbled (or, I hobbled, Rudy ran, and Baba bounced with glee).

The kids loved the animal barns. They didn't care that it stink or was 9,001 degrees. They would have happily oohed and aahed at cows and horses and pigs and goats all day. We watched barrel races, cow judging (which, is the only time that my children have sat still for more than 2 minutes consecutively), sheep judging, and a karate demenstration, during which, Baba turns to me and says, "Mom, can I take gymnastics and dance and karate. Dance and gymnastics because I want to and karate in case someone makes fun of me for taking gymnastics and dance."

Baba also got to make a super cool bookmark at the library booth. He got to use different color stamps to make finger prints on a piece of card stock. He was making TIE fighters (of course). The librarian says in her voice reserved for dealing with dumb children, "Oh! That looks like a butterfly. Its so pretty." Baba says in his most condisending voice, "Its a TIE fighter. Pew! Pew! Pew! TIE fighter." I don't think he took my "you need to be respectful to adults even if they aren't respectful to you" lecture too seriously since I was giggling through it.

After a root beer, some salt water taffy, a hot dog, some french fries, and a juice box, it was time to go. We made it home relativly in one piece and neither of my children sampled any of the prize winning produce (not for lack of trying and me screaming "Babaua Harold put that zucchini down. NOW!"). They had a great time and I had a great drink when we got home. It was a succesful day.

2009-07-21T08:24:00.004-05:00

Last Thursday, Ma and I took the children for a fun filled, action packed day at the Minnesota Zoo. Rudy loved watching the animals. Everything was a "ili!" her word for Wili, our cat. Baba loved the African biome and kept asking when we were are going to Africa to visit my uncle.

I got to feed a giraffe. Their tongues are very cool. Baba was supposed to feed the giraffe but chickened out when he found out he'd have to wash his hands after feeding the giraffe.

They have a dairy farm set up, complete with animals. Of course, we had to look at the cows, pigs, sheep, and goats. The farm was set up so you could go into the goat pen. I really like goats (I want a fainting goat), so I took Baba into the pen with me. Everytime a goat would get too close, he'd pretend to be a tree. Oddly enough, the goats weren't tricked.

The highlight of the day was the "roller coaster" aka the monorail. Baba wanted to know why it didn't go as fast as the roller coaster at the big mall. But he stilled loved it, despite its lack of speed.

Its 5 o'clock somewhere....

2009-07-07T10:01:00.001-05:00

Baba and I had the following conversation:

Baba: Whatcha drinking, Mom?

Me: Water.

Baba: Oh. I thought you were drinking wine.

What!? Its 10 am. What kind of a drunk does he think I am?

After the lights go out....

2009-07-06T09:13:00.002-05:00

I'm not sure what happens in Baba's room after I tuck him in for the night, but I really want to know why he needs 2 light sabers, 1 Nerf gun, a pair of binoculars, 1 miner style flashlight, a canteen full of water complete with plate and spork, and his train whistle.

When I ask him why he needs the precariously balanced pile of treasures on his night stand, he always answers, "Just in case, Mom."

Just in case what?

Ask and you shall receive....

2009-06-22T09:14:00.002-05:00

My maternal grandfather (and Baba's namesake) is the uber pack rat. I don't think he has EVER thrown anything away in his entire life. His shop, garage, granary, barn, etc, etc is piled full of stuff that may one day come in handy. Right after I got married, I was visiting my grandma and mentioned that I was going to buy a sewing machine. My grandpa scurried out to the shop and returned with 2 sewing machines for me to choose from. I worry that there is a pack rat gene and I have it. I don't have 2 spare sewing machines and I do get rid of things that are broken, but I was the proud owner of 2 blenders for a long time (granted, they were wedding presents and I didn't want to get rid of a perfectly good blender that I would someday use. I'm in denial).

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago, I was at my parents house talking about how I really, really, really wanted a Kitchen-Aide Mixer. My mom says, "I think we have an extra in the basement," and scurries down to get it. Genetics at work?

This past weekend, I decided to try test my luck on the pack rat gene again. I mentioned that our printer had stopped working (all it does is flash its lights and refuse to print anything), so my mom scurried downstairs and returned with a new to us printer. I may never go shopping again.

The Newest Addition to our Family

2009-06-19T07:33:00.003-05:00

Me, blogger, and the Internet have been fighting. Our Internet has been working randomly at best (the new modem has taken care of the 15 minutes of Internet access until the modem gets too hot then unplug it for 3 hours to cool off problem/solution). And for some reason blogger thinks its appropriate to take an hour and not post anything. Grr.

My boys have been obsessed with fishing lately. I think fishing is boring, however, I like eating fish so I allow the foolishness. They have yet to catch any "keepers" which is a bit annoying because I'm hungry for fish.

I also broke down and did the Build-A-Bear thing. We went for the first time last year. I got a $5 off coupon, so I let Baba pick out a $10 bear. He joyfully built a brown bear whom he named Nacki. Thankfully, Josh insisted that bears do not wear clothes thus Nacki would be much happier naked. Then for his birthday he got a free bear coupon because he shares a birthday with the Build-A-Bear founder. A blue bear named Tink came to live with us (named after my cuz whom we call "Stink").

For the last few weeks Baba has been insisting that Rudy needs a bear and he'll pay for it. I didn't let Baba use his own money; we used Rudy's birthday money instead. So Baba built a pink bear whom he named Baba-Bear. Baba-Bear cannot be naked because girls cannot run around naked like boys can. So I had to buy a T-shirt for Baba-Bear (as I type, Baba is running around in his underwear, his clothes having "falled off" again. I wonder why that happens). Rudy LOVES her bear. When I go to pick her up from her nap or in the morning, she races to whatever side of the crib Baba-Bear ended up on and grabs her.

Rudy

2009-05-17T08:07:00.003-05:00

We got Rudy's one year pictures back on Friday. I feel like I've accomplished something now that she's a year.

Baba has been super funny about pictures lately. He does not want his pictures taken. Period. End of story. But, before we left for Rudy's one year pictures, he said he wanted to be in the pictures. I didn't believe him, but let him pick out some nice clothes to wear in Rudy's picture.

When we got to the picture place, I figured he'd change his mind about being in the pictures. I told the picture taker person that he didn't really like getting his picture taken, but I wasn't opposed to having him in the picture. He wanted to be in every pictures.

Later that week, we were at Wal-Mart. He saw the Wal-Mart picture taker place and said, "Mom, we need to take pictures of me today." I said, "We just took pictures of you." Then he said, "I counted on the wall, Mom, and we don't have enough pictures of me."

The Balloon

2009-05-07T10:02:00.004-05:00

The kids got a balloon yesterday from the party store. The balloon has been played with almost nonstop since we got home with it.

Even the cat joined the fun.

Zippy and Gaft Girl save the environment!

2009-04-18T20:44:00.003-05:00

In an effort to do our part to save the environment, reduce our consumption of fossil fuels, and prevent global warming, we have been using compact florescent bulbs. Which can't be tossed in the trash when they burn out, they have to be recycled. Zippy has been putting the burned out bulbs back into the box to bring to a recycling facility at a later date. Later date has yet to occur and every time I look at the box I think we still have 4 light bulbs left. (side note: aren't these ridiculously overpriced light bulbs supposed to last 5 years? Because ours have lasted less than 2 years)

Although there were 4 light bulbs in the box when our second of two vanity lights burned out, there were no WORKING replacement bulbs in the house. Big difference. Being the McGuyver that I am, I borrowed Zippy's work light from the garage.

Its kind of like pee-ing while being interrogated. The boy thinks its great.

Naptime

2009-04-16T15:30:00.004-05:00

There is nothing like taking a nap on the cat to cure what ails you.

Rudy was taking her afternoon nap on my lap as I was vainly hoping to join her in the nap. She rolled over and snuggled into Wili for her pillow. I asked Baba to get the camera off the hutch. He grabbed it and held it up in triumph. Held it up upside down, of course. The camera obeyed the law of gravity.

He picked it up and said, "I'm okay, Mom!" He ran over and sort of tossed it in my generally direction. The camera met the floor again. But, luckily, it wasn't damaged. At least not that I'm aware of.

The Jedi at our house is a stinker

2009-04-01T16:53:00.002-05:00

Baba has an imaginary friend who is a Jedi Knight. Baba was jumping around the living room, he stopped, and said, "Mom, my pretend friend is a little stinker."

I thought he was going to blame his pretend friend on the current "explosion in a toy factory" decorating scheme. I said, "why is your friend a stinker?"

Baba said, "Because I keep trying to give him a hug and he keeps jumping away."

He then resumed jumped around the living room, hugging himself, saying, "get back here, you little stinker."

Dancing Fool

2009-03-29T16:56:00.003-05:00

What can I say, the girl's a dancin' fool!

This morning with the boy

2009-03-26T07:25:00.002-05:00

Baba said to me this morning, "I was thinking, Mom. When we get our new house we should have 3 dogs."

I said, "3 dogs?"

Baba said, "Yes. I was thinking about 4, but then I thought that might be too many. So I need a little black dog named 'Toto' and a dog to be a friend for Toto. And dad needs a hunting dog. So we need 3 dogs."

"Talk to your father," I replied.

After the dog discussion, Baba was climbing over to my lap to finish my cereal. He had only eaten one bowl of cereal and one jelly sandwich, so I could see how he was still hungry. He bumped his knee and said, "Oh! I hurt my patella. I need you to read the Star Wars cookbook to me, that will make me feel better."

Dude, you are getting a Dell!

2009-03-25T07:25:00.004-05:00

My yearning for a new computer has been upgraded from a want to a need. I was just going to get another laptop for portability reasons (I like to drive 14 hours for a weekend of playing the Sims in peace), but there is a HUGE problem in that plan.

Sims 3 comes out June 2 and Diablo III comes out sometime in the near future (no release date that I can find has been set). Both will be slow to play on a laptop. Neither game is really built for a laptop.

Now, I just can't decide what to get.

Excuses, excuses

2009-03-13T13:35:00.003-05:00

As of today, it has been 2 weeks since Zippy's children started getting sick (they are my children when they are healthy, well-behaved, and cute). Since then, I have been to the doctor's office 5 times, filled 4 prescriptions, and 1 child got a shot of some sort of penicillin. The kids have had strep throat, an ear infection, stomach flu, diarrhea, and Rudy has almost been hospitalized (twice!) for dehydration. As in the doctor saying, "She should probably be in the hospital, but if you'd rather keep her home, I'm okay with waiting another 12 hours to see if she improves."

During this time, I also costumed 33 characters (most with at least one costume change, 2 with seven costumes changes) and planned a Star Wars birthday party extravaganza for a very happy 4 year old. Last week, I had over 20 hours of rehearsal. This week, thankfully, we only had 5 hours. We open tomorrow night.

I have been pooped on, puked on, and watched Care Bears until I thought I was going to personally maul those freakin' bears! Baba's record tempature was 102, Rudy has a very low body temp due to dehydration (her extremities are like ice cubes and are a brilliant shade of purple). I am half tempted to take a picture of her for prosperity, but she just looks too pathetic.

But, for whatever reason, neither Zippy or I have gotten whatever it is these little germ factories are producing. I've done at least 3 loads of pukey/poopy laundry a day for the past 2 weeks (you do the math) and my hands are cracked from washing them every ten minutes.

I need a stiff drink and a nap.

I think the little people are getting better. Baba has been a trouper through all the trips to the doctor (for him and his sister), but now they are to the stage where they don't feel well enough to play like they usually do, but don't feel sick enough to lay on the couch all day. All we need now is for Rudy to slow down on the current defecating schedule so she can rehydrate and stay out of the hospital. At least her doctor is on call this weekend and Rudy's doc gave me her cell phone number in case I need anything. I think she felt sorry for me.

As well she should. I feel sorry for me. :-)

One less thing to worry about....

2009-02-23T17:03:00.003-06:00

We were watching the scene in Attach of the Clones (or Re-tach of the Cones, depending on who you are talking to) where Anakin returns after killing the Tusken Raiders and is talking to Padme.

Baba says, "Mom! Is Anakin so angry that he can't eat his breakfast."

I say, "I guess so."

In the million times I have seen that movie, I have NEVER noticed Anakin misses a meal.

Baba says, "I could never be a dark jedi. I could never be angry enough to miss breakfast."

Good to know.

2009-02-19T08:07:00.003-06:00

When Baba was little, I bought a tunnel for him to play in. I thought it was to crawl through. Apparently, I was wrong.

Apparently, its to wear.

What are they so afraid of?

2009-02-16T20:09:00.004-06:00

At Target, I overheard a dad telling his son he couldn't go down the doll aisle because that was just for "girls." I've heard dad's tell their sons that they can't have a kitchen set, a baby doll, or a play vacuum because they are just for "girls."

I let Baba play with my Barbies. I read him American Girl books. He loves to cook with me. I don't really see this as a problem. Growing up, I loved playing with my actions figures as much as I liked my Barbies. I loved building with my legos more than I liked baking with my easy bake oven. I always wanted to be a boy scout, not a girl scout. I played with what I was interested in, not what I was "supposed" to play with.

So why do I get the "I can't believe you are letting your son play with Barbies" and/or "I can't believe you are reading him American Girl books" when I mention these things? I am trying to let him explore all his interests, not just the ones that are "acceptable" for his gender. He pranced around preschool one day wearing a pink party dress while playing dress up with some girls. Not only did I not care that he was wearing a dress, I encouraged it because it was making the other mom's around uncomfortable.

I often get asked how my husband feels about all of this. I usually asked, "All of what?" I don't believe that letting my son play with dolls and/or dresses is going to make him any more or any less gay then he may or may not be. I truly believe that he cannot choose or control his sexuality. All I care is he ends up with a nice person (be it man or woman) and provides me with grandkids because that is the ONLY reason why I had these kids in the first place - to be a grandma.

I never cease to be amazed at how closed minded people can be. You can judge me all you want, but please don't ruin something my son loves because you feel that its not "gender" appropriate. There is so little time to explore interests with uninfluenced passion, please don't ruin that for him.

'Tar Wars 'Tuff

2009-02-03T13:23:00.004-06:00

We brought home one blue plastic storage bin (3 more remain at my parents house) of my Star Wars stuff because Baba is SO into 'Tar Wars right now. We watch at least 2 'Tar Wars movies a day. He's seen them all except Revenge of the Sith. Zippy and I think he needs to be a little older because its the darkest of all of them (and Anakin becomes Darth Vader) but Baba keeps trying to to "trick" us into watching it.

Baba wanted to play 'tar Wars. Zippy got the plastic storage bin down and asked me if there was anything in there that Baba couldn't play with. I said that everything in there was okay, thinking that Zippy would pull out the Star Wars stamp markers and my Millenium Falcon scissors. My mistake. Never assume.

Baba played happily for a long time until I noticed he was quiet. Too quiet.

At least he only wrote on his hands.

Mom! My socks are stuck!

2009-01-27T07:56:00.001-06:00

My baby's in Trouble!

2009-01-26T16:13:00.003-06:00

I was in the bathroom brushing my hair this morning when I heard Baba yell, "Mom!!! My baby's in trouble!"

Since I didn't hear Rudy crying and my house is perfectly child proofed (and adult proofed - the locks on my hutch are a bizatch to get into), I wasn't too worried. But, being the good Mom I am, I went down the hall to Baba's room to investigate.

Me: What's wrong, Baba?

Baba: She's 'tanding!

I look and see that Rudy is 'tanding in the middle of the boy's room. Not quite sure how she got into a 'tanding position because there was nothing to pull up any where around her.....

Me: That's okay. She's practising standing.

Baba: I don't like it. She could fall and get hurt.

What is he going to do when "his" baby is ready for school?

On the coldest day in 5 years....

2009-01-15T07:47:00.005-06:00

Generally, it is an up hill battle to get Baba out of his pajamas. He is just not interested in getting his pajama's off because pj's are so comfy, cozy, and other things among his 9,574 other excuses for not getting dressed.

I was eating my Kix and Reece's Puffs mix for breakfast this morning (I highly recommend mixing cereal. Yum!) and I turned around. The boy was darn near naked. I laughed so hard cereal almost came out of nose.

I said, "Why are you naked?"
Baba said, "I'm not naked. I have my undies and socks on."

I said, "Why are you in your undies and socks."
Baba said, "Because my pj's came off!"

Its the coldest day of the year and my child is running around in his under-roos. He says he's not cold because he is a polar bear, but he did mention the chair was cold when he stole my cereal and sat down to eat it.

PS I brought down clothes for him to wear and have been nagging him to get dressed for the past 30 minutes or so. Now his clothes are missing and he isn't sure where they went. I can only conclude his clothes have a mind of their own.

Sinner!

2009-01-14T07:16:00.004-06:00

Yesterday afternoon my phone rang with an unknown number. I usually don't pick up if I don't recognize the number, but it was a local area code and River City Theater has about 14 different phone numbers they call me from, so I answered thinking that our rehearsal location/date/production had been changed. Again.

It wasn't River City Theater.

It was our pastor. My first that was, "Oh crap! He's going to ask why we haven't been in church since Christmas Eve. Really!? I can't miss a few Sundays without the pastor giving me a call!? What's up with that? I'm sorry we ever started going to that church."

He was actually calling to remind me that registration for Grandma's Marathon opens today. We spoke for a few minutes with no comment on our spotty church attendance, just a pleasant conversation on the joys of training for a marathon. He said he was filling out his registration and thought of me and how busy you are with little kids and thought I might have forgotten that registration opened today. I thanked him for thinking of me. All in all, it was a pleasant conversation. Although, I think he muttered, "sinner" under his breath when he hung up.

5 pieces of bread

2009-01-09T09:09:00.004-06:00

There were 5 pieces of bread consumed at my house this morning. I had none, the girl had 1, and the boy had 4. Yes, 4. Two toasted with jelly, two without toasted but with jelly.

So, to the dude at the food store with his snide comment of "Like bread, do you?" upon seeing the 6 loaves of bread in my cart. No, I don't really like bread, but my kids do. And as an FYI the 2 gallons of milk I bought, sir, will last about a week.

Baba Babysits

2009-01-05T15:04:00.004-06:00

Rudy is obsessed with the steps and is a quick little bugger so you have to watch her constantly. You turn your back for 2 seconds and she's halfway up. Baba is obsessed with "watching" his baby and loves volunteering to "watch" her so I can go to the bathroom, start supper, make a snack, etc.

Baba wanted a snack this afternoon and volunteered to watch his sister while I fixed his 87th snack of the day. I said okay, but to let me know if she started on the steps. He agreed.

I fixed his snack and came around the corner. "Where's your sister?" I asked.

"On the 'teps!" Baba yelled.

I said, "I thought you were watching her."

He said, "I was. But I needed a break."

He had been "watching" her for about 30 seconds.

I rescued Rudy from the steps and they happily went back to playing with the cat toy (which I got on clearance at Target for 29 cents. Next year, Santa is bringing boxes, cat toys, and more boxes).

Grocery Store Math

2008-12-30T21:23:00.003-06:00

Now I remember what I was really going to blog about.....

I was at the grocery store today and came across this math problem:

128 ounces of OJ for 2.99

OR

64 ounces of OJ on sale for 2 for $6

Do I need to slow down? Should I repeat the question? It was a tough choice. I had to call my dad.

Someday....(insert lyrics from your fav song with someday in it)

2008-12-30T21:20:00.004-06:00

To quote ZennieZou, "I've a bad blog keeper-upper guyer (I'm adding guyer because that's what the boy would say)."

My poor neglected blog has taken a backseat to my new hobby, reading several books at once. For example, I'm reading: America, the book by Jon Stewart, Pollyanna by some lady, and Harry Pothead and the Half Blood Prince by another lady. America and 1/2 Blood by choice, Pollyanna because I'm auditioning next week and have very vague memories of the movie with Haley Mills.

I have really cute holiday pictures of the kids. Someday (July is looking pretty open) they'll get posted. Until then, wish me luck auditioning - here's hoping I don't get confused and start acting out scenes from Harry Potter.

Santa

2008-12-22T20:49:00.002-06:00

Baba has been very concerned about everyone, not just him, getting presents lately. He was quite worried when, as of last Friday, there was NOTHING for me under the tree. Zippy took him shopping so he no longer has that to worry about.

But today at Target, he asked me what Santa was bringing me. I said I didn't know and asked what he thought Santa should bring me. He thought for a moment and said, "a new shirt without holes and new pants."

So, my three year old has noticed that my favorite sweatshirt has a hole in the sleeve. I was kind of embarrassed at first, but there's a good chance I won't stop wearing it. I really like it. I hope Baba isn't too disappointed when Santa brings me Season 2 of Ducktales instead of a new shirt.

Angry Boy

2008-12-19T21:47:00.002-06:00

The boy was angry at me the other day. He glared at me and said, "MOMUA HAROLD!!"

I laughed.

To my dear friend, ZennieZou

2008-12-19T21:27:00.005-06:00

My dearest ZennieZou,

If you EVER give me another Danielle Steel book to read I may have to stop being your friend. I really tried to like her because she came highly recommended from you, but I can't.

I read that one about the kids on the Titanic for you. By the end of the book, I had wished they had all gone down with the ship.

I am currently trying to read Sisters. I've had it for 3 years and I feel it is time to return it. The English major in me won't let me return a book I haven't read.

So far, it is harder for me to get into than when I read Canterbury Tales in Olde Englishe in college. By the second chapter, I was skipping paragraphs. By the third, I was skipping pages. By the fourth, I was hoping they would all get hit with an meteorite and then next 200 pages would be "The End" written over and over and over. No such luck.

I keep reading, however. I trust your judgement and am hoping by the end of the book it redeems itself (or they all die in horrible, bloody, gory, etc accidents that make me feel that reading it has worthwhile. Its like when you are stuck in traffic and think "Man, there better be a BIG accident to cause these delays.").

But, I really like being your friend so no more Danielle Steel, okay? Every other book you have ever sent me has been readable and enjoyable. If you send me more Danielle Steel, I may have to tell Dumbly you are not setting your thermostat within 10 degrees of the outside temperature.

Thanks,

ZarahZou

PS stupid snow. I'm really bummed about cancelling our play date. Wanna have a play date in Florida?

Same tree, same crap, I mean, same BEAUTIFUL stuff

2008-12-13T21:51:00.004-06:00

A couple weekends ago, we decorated our parents Christmas tree. I do believe we out did ourselves this year.

We found the beautiful Styrofoam ball with three dots of glitter left that my mom always tries to hid from us. She said, "What until you have kids..." I have kids. One of whom made a beautiful blue glitter Styrofoam ball that he promptly dropped on the floor and got glitter in between my floor boards that I'll never get out. The ball is hanging on our tree and the boy is forbidden to touch it, to think about touching it, or look at it.

Even better than the Styrofoams ball (what says Christmas more than glittery Styrofoam?) was this yellow ornament I found in the box. Apparently, its actually a twist-tie, but it was in the box so it was fair game.

And this ornament I found in the box that my mom said, "Don't go in that box. There's just junk in there." Open invitation. If she really didn't want us in that box, she wouldn't have said anything about its contents.

My new concept in decorating - try the ornament out for the season, if you don't like it, take it back. Just leave it in the bag! As an added bonus, you'll never have to dust your ornaments, just shake the bag off at the end of the season.

After all our treasures where on the tree (my dad and uncle were going to contribute the yule beer cans later), we crawled under and screamed Silver Bells until Rudy cried. Ditty's friend from college even got to share in the family fun.

Something wrong with that boy.....

2008-12-08T17:51:00.001-06:00

Tonight during supper Baba picked out a lima bean and said, "I found it! There are those things I love."

My kid willingly eats lima beans. I don't even willingly eat them. They just happen to be in the mixed vegetables I buy because I always forget to look for the lima bean free label.

I want to go on that one!!!!

2008-12-02T19:45:00.003-06:00

I'm either the greatest mom in the world or off my rocker. I took both kids, by myself, to Nickelodeon Universe at Mall of America today to ride rides. The day went pretty well. Rudy was content to patiently drool and chew on everything within arm's reach (greetings to tooth number two who made his appearance this morning - the first made his appearance the day after Thanksgiving).

Baba was content to ride as many rides as possible in the 3 hours allotted to his riding pleasure (on Tuesdays, Nick U offers a 3 hour unlimited ride wrist band for $9.95. Basically kids can ride all the 3 point rides until they puke or they reach the 3 hour time limit, whichever comes first. Best deal ever).

There was one minor hiccup in the day. Baba is 41 inches. You have to be 42 to ride a couple of the rides alone. He really wanted to ride Swiper's Swooper, but wasn't tall enough. With the help of a very nice Random Mom in line behind him, we avoided a meltdown. He chitchatted the entire ride with Random Mom. Random Mom got off the ride and said, "What a friendly little boy." Remind anyone of Baba's namesake?

Even worse then having to be 42 inches to ride Swiper's Swooper alone, you have to be 48 inches to ride the roller coaster he really wants to ride. The first hill looks like an upside down "U" - straight up and then straight down. (Big Zjosh, next time you are in town and feeling like going to an amusement park, I will so ride this ride with you). Then it goes into an upside down loop. I really, really wanted to ride it - I'm over 48 inches! - but I couldn't really leave my kids unattended. Darn kids.

I tried to make lifts for his shoes to help him "grow" the last inch out of a diaper, but they didn't work. Diapers are too squishy, must try other material. He was content to ride the Pineapple Popper 4 times in a row to make up for the injustice of his lack of height. His other ride of the day was the WonderPets Flyboat. Everytime he reached the top of the Flyboat ride, he would point to the roller coaster of his desire and say, "That's the one I want to go on." I would say he is too short and the operator would laugh.

To get his mind off of the unfairness of life, we had lunch. After lunch, he sat back and said, "Mom, I grew my inch. Let's go ride some more."

Unfortunately, he hadn't grown, but to make up for it we got some ice cream in his favorite hue, blue (it was cotton candy flavor and kind of gross, but to each his own). We also, much to the boy's delight, saw a set of triplets that was about Rudy's age. Baba said, "Mom, the only problem with 3 babies is we'd need to buy 2 more cribs."

While it is true we would need to buy 2 more cribs, I have a hard time believing that would be the only problem with triplets. I can think of several more, including the fact that, despite my best efforts, I have failed to grow an extra arm. When the number of babies outnumber the number of arms, I think that's a problem. Enough cribs or not.

Baba's New Pet

2008-11-17T18:31:00.003-06:00

Shortly after Rudy was born, Ditty and Poonch II got a dog named Buster (or is it Busta?). Anyway, I asked Baba if we could get a dog instead of 5 more sisters. He politely told me otherwise.

Today while we were watching Franklin the Turtle for the 9,958,877,392 time (Franklin could count by 2's and tie his shoes. He could zip zippers and button buttons....) and eating popcorn, we had the following conversation:

Baba: Mom, can I have a popcorn seed for a pet?
Me: A popcorn seed for a pet?
Baba: I was thinking it would be a good pet, it won't poop anywhere.
Me: That's true. You better ask Dad.
Baba: (holding up the popcorn seed, admiring his pet) I will name him Pacos. Let's call Dad.

So we call Dad, who for some reason thought a popcorn seed pet was funny. I'm certainly not opposed to getting a pet for the boy. Pets teach responsibility, but how much responsibility does it take to take care of a popcorn seed?

Postscrip: Pacos the popcorn seed got thrown in with his brothers in the bowl and got tossed. So far, Baba is unaware that his precious pet sits in the bottom of the garbage can, waiting for someone to bring him to the curb. This could get ugly. Especially, since his Halloween pumpkin still sits on our counter, uncarved, because the pumpkin is his friend and he didn't want to cut it with a sharp knife.

Things heard around the house....

2008-11-12T20:32:00.004-06:00

"Mom, I hit the baby with my ball and now she's crabby and I'm going to get swallowed by a whale."

"You love your big brother, dontcha baby? Yes, you do."

"Mom, I took her plug away and she's not crabby."

"Mom. I know I'm not supposed to be in her crib when she's napping, but I wanted to see her smile."

"I think I heard my baby. Let's go get her!"

"Dad! Bring Mom!" (apparently, I wasn't moving enough for him that night. He had only called for me twice!)

"Mom, I have an idea! Let's move Rudy's crib into my room and then we can put another baby in Rudy's room." (this was at 1 am)

"Let I see what's the matter."

"I already see-ed, Mom." (in response to any time I say, "We'll see."

"It's bedtime? That's awful."

"Mom!!!! My butt is cracked."

"How is a whale born?"

"When I grow up, I'm going to be a bee. I just have to grow a stinger and fill in my crack."

"Don't let my baby sleep, Mom. I want to play with her."

Me: Tomorrow is Saturday so Daddy doesn't have to work. Baba: No, Mom, Sad days are when Dad has to work.

Baba: Did someone forget a washcloth? Me: Did someone forget his manners? Baba: Did someone forget a washcloth, please?

"Mom! Let's name our next baby, 'Baby Skunk!' "

"Can I go back to day-care so you can have another baby in your tummy?"

"C'mon, Wili. Let's play bat-the-ball!"

"Make me something I've never ever had for lunch before."

"Spinach! I want spinach on my lunch."

"I don't think I've watched enough TV."

Child Labor

2008-11-05T20:27:00.004-06:00

Why did they make child labor illegal? They look so cute doing it.
Note the hearing "selection." He is safe while laboring.

And Rudy makes such a good supervisor.

A typical day...

2008-11-04T20:19:00.005-06:00

Today, like all days, started way too early. The boy alarm went off just after 5 am and the girl alarm went off shortly there after. Both woke up happy. I woke up crabby. I like sleep. Baba started the day by crawling in the crib to see his baby. And then told me to take a picture. My camera has been MIA since Saturday when we came home from my parents. I told the boy I didn't know where it was. He showed me where it was. Last time I let him "help" me unpack.

I told the boy it was time to get dressed. He told me it was time to farm. And he had a lot of farming to do today so he needed to be a naked farmer. I was laughing too hard to tell him no. Rudy then gave me a present in her diaper so we went upstairs. In the time it took me to change her, the boy had every pillow in the house sitting in front of the couch and was jumping off the couch in his undies. Again, laughing to hard to discourage the behavior.

After some jumping, he decided to go for a swim underwater with Baby Jaguar, so they crawled under the pillows, I mean, water.

Here he is with Wili and Baby Jaguar watching the ships sailing in the ocean. Despite what my least favorite teacher at Baba's school says, I don't think he is ruined by having watched TV. He sat and watched the invisible boats for at least 15 minutes. (The cat was either dead or sleeping since she didn't move during the whole "swimming" adventure that took place).

After I wrangled him into clothing, we went to vote. Baba was very disappointed to learn that voting did not involve a boat or leaving Baby Jaguar on shore while we went boating (he was going to sit in the back of the boat). In order to get over the trauma of finding voting to be not as exciting as he expected, we went to the food store where he got an apple. I tried to talk him into a donut. He insisted on an apple.

Lest you think that Baba is the only strange child in my house, Rudy has spent the last 30 or so minutes laying on her side cooing at our rocking chair.

I know the table is a helluva conversationalist, but I'm surprised at the recliner's way with words.

The Quest for the Halloween Bucket

2008-10-31T14:05:00.003-05:00

I love shopping with Baba. First he tells that pharmacist that I shouldn't take my birth control because we want more babies. Then he tells me that I need to find a person in a red shirt to help us find the Halloween bucket he so desperately wants. He then proceeds to tell every person wearing a red shirt (employee or not) that we are looking for a candy bucket for Halloween.

I finally did it!

2008-10-17T17:03:00.002-05:00

I've had grocery stores pay me to take various items off their hands, but until today, I've never had a grocery store pay me to take my entire order.

I bought 20 yoplait yogurts (we go through a lot of "o-gurt" in our house - this should last us a week) and 2 Ben and Jerry ice cream treats and they paid me 20 cents. I can probably die happy now.

Hi-to the-larious

2008-10-09T18:56:00.003-05:00

Apparently, whoopee cushions are the height of hilarity when you are 3.5 years old and 4 months old (and the parents of said people).

Baba and the Doctor

2008-09-27T21:34:00.003-05:00

I had the privilege of taking Baba to the doctor because his "pee-er thing 'tung when pee shot out!" We walked in to check in with the receptionist and my child says, "Mom, I want to talk to her."

So I lift him up. He then says, "I'm here because I'm sick. My pee-er thing 'tings when pee shoots out." The receptionist was able to keep a straight face until she looked at me and saw that I was giggling. We then had the most exciting adventure in his short life - peeing in a cup. He thought that was the neatest thing ever and has been asking to pee in a cup since then. He also has been telling everyone and their brother that he got to pee in a cup.

When the doctor made it in the room, my child scales the examining table and announces, "my pee-er thing hurts. Do you have the tools to fix it?"

The doctor almost giggles. I have told Baba repeatedly that pee-er thing is not the proper term, but he keeps telling me he likes pee-er thing better. Oddly enough, he has no problem calling his knees patellas as in, "Mom, I washed my patellas, can I get out of the tub?".

Anyway, after our fun at the doctor's office, he announces he doesn't want to be a big boy any more. I ask him what he wants to be. He says, "I want to be a girl because girls don't have pee-er things and if he was a girl he wouldn't have a pee-er thing and then his pee-er thing wouldn't hurt."

I really couldn't argue with that logic.

Uff-da!

2008-09-13T20:06:00.003-05:00

I "rented" Finding Neverland from the library (I love Peter Pan, one of my all time favorite stories/movies/plays/etc) because I still haven't seen it. Instead of watching that, we are watching Mr. Baseball. Not my first or last choice for the evening. I've seen it once. Once was enough.

I've come to the conclusion that Baba is a Minnesota boy. In the past few days he has said, "You betcha," and "Uff-da you are a heavy kitty, Wili." Zippy and I almost peed our pants laughing at the uff-da. I didn't realize that Zippy or I said uff-da on a regular basis.

Baba and I were going through Rudy's closet this afternoon, switching out the 3 to 6 month clothes for the 6 to 9 month clothes (yes, she isn't quite 4 months old yet). I was packing up the clothes that Rudy outgrew and/or never wore because they are off season. Baba started to throw a fit because his baby hadn't worn those clothes yet. I said we couldn't dress his baby in shorts in the winter. He thought about it and decided the only solution was to have another baby sister and proceeded to run downstairs to tell Zippy we needed another baby. On a happy note, he has lowered his number of sisters he wants from 5 to 3. As Zippy said, I'm only one set of triplets away from that. The odds of spontaneous triplets is one in 8100. It could happen. I hope it doesn't.

Its a Miracle!

2008-08-28T20:52:00.002-05:00

Rudy slept from 9:15 PM to 5:15 AM.
Miracles do happen. Now only if we could get the big boy named Baba to sleep that well. He was up at 5:15 AM, too (which was an improvement from the previous day's 4:30 AM) and CRABBY! Of course, he wasn't ready to nap until 3:30 this afternoon.

An Open letter to the Neighbor....

2008-08-26T20:57:00.003-05:00

Dear Ziz's Nemesis,

What on earth are you still running your air conditioner? You were running it that night it got down to 50. Why? And, please stop abandoning your dog in your front yard. He barks. A lot.

Oh, and when my child says, "Hi neighbor!" please don't glare at him. He's three not sixteen. He's not selling anything, he just wants to be polite and say hi.

Thanks,

Your Zeighbor

And a letter to the makers of Zullzrog sunscreen:

Dear Zullzrog,

I bought your sunscreen this year. Despite it being a BOGO and double coupon day it was a waste of money (I paid just over $4 for 2 things of sunscreen). I applied your SPF 45 thrice on Sunday and am doing a fine imitation of lobster girl.

Thanks,

Your Zunburned Zriend

Is it Santa Claus?

2008-08-23T21:42:00.003-05:00

We've been re roofing my parents house for the past week and a half (hail damage - a tornado went through next door and put their neighbor's tree on their neighbor's car). They have a really steep roof. A really, really steep roof. I'm walking around like I'm wearing 6 inch heels even though I'm barefoot. We almost finished today.

Baba wanted to go on the roof. Since he's part monkey, I let him. He was super pumped when we sat on the highest part of the roof. He could see so far. He could even see Pa's shop. Which is maybe 100 feet from the house in his backyard. It was a heck of a view.

I heart Grocery Shopping

2008-08-01T19:53:00.002-05:00

Here's why I am the greatest grocery shopper ever. Today at Cub Foods I bought the following:

2 boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch
1 box of Cheerios
1 box of Reeses Pieces Cereal
2 boxes of Strawberry Chex
1 box of Honey Nut Chex
1 box of Nature Valley Granola bars (Honey and Oat, if you must know)
2 boxes of Betty Crocker fruit snacks (Spider man for the little boy and Transformers for the big boy)
1 bag of hamburger buns

My grand total was $1.96.

What a downer!

2008-07-29T19:37:00.001-05:00

I was so looking forward to balancing the checkbook tonight and my statement isn't ready. I really wanted to balancing the checkbook. What a bummer.

Baba Learns About Gravity

2008-07-23T19:45:00.002-05:00

We went to the cabin last weekend. The boy loves water. He didn't care that it was raining when we got there, he still wanted to be in the water (since he was going to get wet anyway and I didn't have to be out with him, I had no objections to Pa taking him out in the rain). The rain finally stopped and we got to play in the lake. Yeah!

The boy decided he was going to jump off the end of the dock. He decided not to tell anyone. Although he had a lifejacket on, that darn gravity pulled him under. He didn't like it because water went up his nose, but he was going to try again later.

We figured he would be done for the night. It was pretty late when he took his dip so we headed up to the cabin. When he heard we were going in, he was unhappy. He wanted to go tubing. That child has no fear.

The Captains: Hook vs Morgan

2008-07-18T19:47:00.005-05:00

I brought the children to the liquor store today (I am such a good Mom!) because we are going to the cabin this weekend and we needed vodka. I put the children in the cart and drove right to the Karkov and headed for the door.

And
I
Got
Carded

Yeah, 2 kids and I get carded. How come the only time I didn't get carded was when I was in college and drinking while not quite of age.

But, on the way out, Baba saw a bottle of Captain Morgan. He asked if that was Captain Hook. I said, "No, that's Captain Hook's cousin, Captain Morgan."

While I was mixing the Peppermintini bucket, Baba asked what it was.

I said, "It's a drink."
Baba said, "I like drinks."
I said, "It's a drink for big people."
Baba said, "I'm a big boy named Baba."
I said, "It's a drink for big people who are 21 or who have a fake I.D. saying they are 21. Are you 21 or do you have a fake I.D.?"
Baba said, "No."
I said, "Then you can't have any."

Rudy didn't even ask for some. If I can't pass for 21, she can't pass for 21.

The Boy on why Pa hunts.....

2008-07-14T19:48:00.002-05:00

Baba: Look Mom! We have two rolls of duct tape.

Me: (half paying attention while trying to get the squirming 3 year old and the screaming baby into the car) That's good news.

Baba: That's why Pa goes hunting, to kill ducks to make duct tape.

Da Plane! Da Plane!

2008-07-02T20:14:00.004-05:00

While waiting for Curious George to come on this afternoon, we caught the tail end of the purple monster (Barney - the boys name for him, not mine. Usually Baba screams whenever Barney dares prance across his TV, thus the monster). The unbelievably obnoxious Barney brats had built a airplane out of boxes. Guess what we did this afternoon?

The boy wanted to fly with his sister to his McDonalds (the one with the truck in the play-place), but Zippy and I couldn't come because his plane was too little for all of us to fit. Rudy played along for a few minutes. She's a good sport.

He wouldn't stop begging for propellers, so they got added right before bedtime.

Now he needs a real engine - he doesn't want to pretend fly. If you give a mouse a cookie......

The baby who says, "Waaaaa!"

2008-06-30T21:08:00.004-05:00

The little baby doesn't sleep. Well, that's not true. She sleeps just fine if you are holding her (except Thursday night, Friday night, and Saturday when she screamed all night. That was exciting), but as soon as you lay her down, she's up. Just like her brother. But, we believe we have the screaming all day and night figured out (new formula and its like we got a new baby - she was back to her happy self).

Speaking of her brother. He got a pair of shoes that he can put on all by himself (pretty cool when you are 3). We went to the park today. He ran over to some kids playing and asked if he could play with them. They said yes (which is good, because they couldn't have been more than 8 and I could have easily taken them). He ran back to me and told me he made a bunch of new friends. He then ran back to his friends and told him that he could put on his shoes all by himself. They were polite enough to tell him that was cool.

When I was snuggling with Baba tonight, he said he had fun today. I said that's good and asked if he liked being home with Mom and his sister. He said he did. I asked if should go back to work. He said no. That's all the confirmation I needed.

Fun with Jaundice

2008-06-04T12:33:00.001-05:00

Rudy had juandice. Thankfully its all over, although the glow-in-the-dark alien baby was an interesting edition to the family.

The wait is finally over.....

2008-05-31T18:20:00.003-05:00

RudolphtherednosedreindeerFionna-honker has finally made her appearance:

5/27 @ 5:09 PM

9 pounds 5 ounces (ouch!!!! If I would have known, I would have opted for the repeat C-Section)

20 inches long

Baba thinks his sister is cute, especially her toes. Her toes are Zhompson toes - I have 'em, my father has 'em, the boy has 'em, and now Rudy has 'em - long, scrawny, and crooked.

Still Pregnant

2008-05-25T21:32:00.002-05:00

'Nuff said.

I'm a Guitar Hero!

2008-05-12T21:15:00.002-05:00

Zippy really, really, really wanted Guitar Hero for our Wii. Since I bought the Wii for him, I've been hearing about his lifelong ambition to become a guitar hero. I finally broke down.

Turns out, I'm the greatest Guitar Hero ever. I thought I sucked at Guitar Hero. I thought I didn't like playing it. Turns out, 10 years of piano lessons makes you really quite good at playing a silly video game.

I really like video games. If only they'd come out with Keyboard Hero. Oh. Or Kazoo Hero.

The Name Saga

2008-05-01T20:16:00.003-05:00

We've been working on convincing the boy that everybody has two names - one name while you are in Mom's tummy and a new name when you are born. He was Zebulon Isaac Thaddeus while he lived in my tummy and he's now Baba. :-)

So, my mom asked Baba what his sister's name is. Baba said, "Her name is RudolphtherednosedreindeerFionna-honker. But that's just her name now."

My mom said, "What will her name be after she's born?" (I'm sure she was hoping to get the real name out of him - we are withholding that information - she wasn't thrilled when Ditty started bragging about knowing the name. Te he he).

My child said, "Rudy."

Well, at least Rudy is more realistic than Rudolph...Fionna-honker!

10%

2008-04-28T20:58:00.003-05:00

The good people at Target offered me a $25 gift card if I created a baby registry. I like Target and I like gift cards so I complied. A couple clicks of the scanner and 10 minutes later, I was $25 richer and never thought about my registry again.

Until I got a coupon in the mail from my friends at Target offering me 10% off anything left on my registry (which was everything). The coupon encouraged me to register for diapers, formula, and any other last minute items. Since babies tend to need diapers (and I am NOT washing cloth diapers - besides I'm not decide which is more environmentally friendly - washing loads and loads of laundry or filling landfills), I accepted their generous offer.

Zippy and I registered for everything babies need that I had coupons for. We then took our registry, 10% off coupon, and my other coupons to the front of the store to checkout. The cashier rang everything up the total was, gulp, $132.41. She couldn't get the coupon to scan, so she decided to take the 10% off manually. She thought 10% should be about $30.

My jaw almost hit the floor. Besides 100% or 50%, 10% is one of the easiest percents in the world. I told her it was $13.24. She told me I was really good at math. I'm really good at being honest.

The newest addition to our family...

2008-04-15T21:03:00.003-05:00

This is Mr. Wili.

She is almost 6 years old and my big-furred kitty (3 years ago I took her to the vet. They told me that at 12 pounds she needed to loose weight. I took offense and haven't taken her to the vet again).

This is Thomas.

We adopted Thomas Monday night. The boy named him. He looked at the cat and said, "That's Thomas." Since he was naming a cat and not attempting to name his sister RudolphtherednosedreindeerFionna, we didn't argue.

Mr. Wili is scared to death of Thomas. I can see why. Thomas has got to weigh 2 pounds, maybe. Thomas had Wili cornered under Zippy's desk last night. The big cat was growling and hissing at the little cat. Baba said, "It's okay, Wili. Thomas is a nice kitty. He is a friend for you." Wili wasn't convinced.

This is Baba and Thomas taking a pretend bath.

The boy wanted to take a bath with his kitties tonight. I told him that kitties don't like water. He said they would take a pretend bath since they were pretend dirty. Thomas obliged, Wili sat in the doorway and growled. The boy had real fun in the pretend bath. Then he decided he should be the doctor and Thomas should be the sick boy. Thomas did not obliged.

My roots are showing....

2008-04-12T21:54:00.004-05:00

Tonight a telemarketer lady called to offer me all kinds of things I would be a fool to refuse. Somehow I managed to refuse the bulk of her offerings.

She wanted me to sign up for some book club. I said I wasn't interested. She said it was really important to read to my children. I said I still wasn't interested and my mom is a teacher so I get books cheaper than what she could offer (the library also offers really cheap books, which I mentioned when she tried to get me to join a different book club).

She then said, "Do you rent or own?"

Not realizing that she had changed topics, I said, "my books?"

She was referring to my house.

Oh and PS, dear telemarketer lady: I understand that your job sucks, but please don't call me at 8:30 on a Saturday night. Although I listened polietly for 11 minutes and 36 seconds it was only because I felt bad that you were telemarketing on a Saturday night not because I cared about your exciting offers chosen just for me.

And the great naming debate continues.....

2008-04-08T18:50:00.004-05:00

Trying to name a baby with the help of a very stubborn 3 year old is no easy task. While Baba was in the tub, Zippy and I were going through our list.

Me: Zalyssa?

Boy: No. That name is yuck.

Zippy: Maybe.

Me: Zjosh?

Boy: No. My sister's name is RudolphtherednosedreindeerFionna. That's a good name.

Zippy: We are not naming your sister Rudolph.

Boy: But that's her name.

How can you argue with that? Especially since his cuteness trumps Zippy and my combined cuteness.

HONK!!!!!

2008-04-04T22:26:00.003-05:00

Zippy was in the bathroom shaving this morning and heard a door shut. He opened the door and saw Baba sitting at the top of the steps. Baba said, "I woke up Dad."

Baba then opened his bedroom door, pointed to his bed, and said, "See."

Baba raced to our bedroom where I was still sleeping (it was 5:58, I still had 2 minutes to sleep). He stood so his face was about 6 inches from my face and yelled, "HONK!!!!!"

I woke up. He thought it was funny. I wanted my two minutes of sleep. He then said, "C'mon Mom. Let's go watch a movie" and raced down the hallway.

I don't move as fast as he does especially after being awoken with a zealous honk so I didn't follow him (I still had 2 minutes, remember?). He made it half way down the hall, stopped, and said, "I forgot Mom!"

He high-tailed it back to my room and I was up for the day. There is nothing quite like a good honk to get you out of bed.

Super Human Strength

2008-03-30T20:25:00.002-05:00

When I was super-pregnant with Baba (like 8 and a half months about to pop any minutes pregnant), I decided that I could no longer live with the way our living room furniture was arranged. My loving husband watched from his computer as his wife, the newest super hero "Pregnant Girl" moved couches, end tables, entertainment centers, and a super heavy steamer trunk that came from the old country around the living room. His only comment was about the temperature of the house when I became warm and turned off the heat so I could open the front door for some air. I fail to see what his problem was, just because it was January in Minnesota.

Today "Pregnant Girl" and all her hormonal glory and strength made her return. I could no longer live with the current arrangement of furniture in the living room. The boy kept asking why I needed to rearrange the living room (he was watching Toy Story and got a ride on the couch and the recliner while I was moving them). Rather than explain hormones and the nesting instinct to him, I just told him I was tired of the way the furniture was arranged.

This time, Zippy helped. I'm not sure if he didn't want his pregnant wife rearranging alone or if he was afraid I would get overheated and freeze Baba to the couch. Either way, I had help.

Cleveland

2008-03-20T20:56:00.004-05:00

Thursday, March 13:

Besides for the boy locking himself into a bathroom stall in a gas station in Wisconsin (my deepest apologies for anyone who desperately needed to use that stall, but I wasn't crawling under to unlock it) and his obsession with eating at "Talking Bell" the trip to Cleveland was uneventful. When we got to Zeagan's house, the boy announced he was hungry and she should cook him supper. Zeagan doesn't cook - she makes reservations, so he got an apple instead.

Friday, March 14:

We went to Mongolian BBQ for lunch - my child ate crab, baby corn, and 5 tortillas. He also taste tested everything that Zippy and I got, but that's not unusual. He is really into sharing - which means he eats everything you have.

After lunch, we went to the Children's Museum which had a Galapagos Island exhibit. It was basically a room filled with sand that the boy could dig in to his heart's content.

Saturday, March 15:

We went to Mama Santa's for lunch (yum) and then road the Rapid downtown to visit Zeagan at work. My child ate a butter sandwich and made Zeagan "Hot Cocoa" which was chunks of bread, spinach, and whatever else he could throw in his cup when we weren't watching.

Sunday, March 16:

We had lunch at Panini's (a panini, that is, a real panini, is a beautiful thing), wandered around Coventry, and then headed back to Zeagan's to play with Zabby. The boy impressed us with his mad verbal skillz:

Boy: (gives Zabby brown marker) You can color with this one.

Zabby: Thank you.

Boy: Do you like brown?

Zabby: Yes. Do you like brown?

Boy: I like making in the potty. Do you like making brown in the potty?

Zabby: Yes.

Zippy and I were rolling on the floor. Zabby is 5. I wish I would have had a video camera on those two.

Monday, March 17:

We drove to Wisc. Dells to spend the night at the Atlantis Water park. It is the perfect place for Baba to play - the deepest part of the kiddy pool is 1 foot. The boy runs around the pool (seriously) for a couple hours, goes to bed, wakes up and repeats.

Tuesday, March 18:

We get up and go to IHOP or the pancake store, depending on who you ask for breakfast. The boy "shares" breakfast with Zippy and I. We swim some more and return home.

The Cat

2008-03-14T09:01:00.003-05:00

I believe Mr. Wili misses Baba. My mom said she sat in this position for 20 minutes last night.

Don't worry, Wili, we will be home soon and Baba can't wait to see you. He misses you, too.

(By the way, Wili, the back view is not flattering, you look very big furred. Remember, the paparazzi is always watching you)

The Farm Room in all its glory

2008-03-10T20:52:00.001-05:00

The bed is revealed

2008-03-01T21:44:00.003-06:00

Pa built Baba a wagon bed, complete with wheels and a hitch.

I wish I was almost three and got so excited about stuff that I forgot words.

Baba's New Room

2008-02-24T18:26:00.003-06:00

Mr. and Mrs. Zooker came down to paint this weekend. We aren't finished, but this is the boy's reaction to what we've done so far (Pa built the barn).

Routine OB check

2008-02-14T20:47:00.003-06:00

There is nothing routine about a routine OB check with an almost three year old. Baba has accompanied me on almost all of my appointments so he knows the routine. He knows how many receptionists are supposed to be working ("Where'd that other guy go?" I guess there were three "guys" last time, and only two today), how many nurses there are, how many lab techs are in the lab, and where the good toys are.

We got to the doctor and checked in. Baba played with the toys until they called for our turn. As we walked back, he said, "Hi jelly man," to the ultrasound tech (he hasn't seen her since Jan, how does he recognize her?). Then, to his wonder, I got to be pee in a cup. He asked if he could pee in a cup. I said no. He asked if he could see my potty. I told him to look with his eyes. He said, "Wow, Mom! You made lots of potty." I felt like taking a bow.

We walked across the hall to the lab and waited for it to be 4:30 so they could draw blood for the glucose tolerance test (I passed, hooray!). Baba asked the tech why she didn't take blood out my arm and why she didn't take more blood.

Then we got to go to the "little room" and wait for the doctor. During our last trip, he was fascinated by the stirrups. I told him they were so the doctor could look at a patient's feet. Because he's almost three and I know everything, he believed me.

As soon as he finished his sucker (I was so prepared), the doctor came in. He said, "Doctor, why is there no little potty in the bathroom for me to go potty in?" I thought it was a fair question and the doctor said he didn't know why there was no little potty, but he would check into it.

The doctor had me hop (relative term) on the exam table. Baba asked, "Are you going to look at Mom's feet?" Luckily, my doctor has a sense of humor and remembered Baba from last time and said that he wasn't going to look at my feet today.

He put the fetoscope on my belly and asked if Baba knew what that sound was. Baba said, "Yes! That's Rudolphtherednosedreindeerfionna." The doctor looked at me and I explained that the boy is convinced that's his sister's name. He said he's heard a lot of unique names, but that is by far the most unique.

After playing with Baba's trucks for a few minutes, the doctor said he'd see us in four weeks. Baba asked, "Where are you going?"

The doctor said, "I've got to get back to work."

My child said, "Get to work, mister!"

Life is definetly more exciting with an almost three year old.

The most important thing I learned.....

2008-02-11T21:37:00.001-06:00

I spent the past weekend painting. I spent the weekend before this weekend painting. I like painting. You see, I've come to the conclusion that the belly is not getting any smaller, and panicked. This house will be painted before Rudolph makes her appearance. Paiting around the toilet in our bathrooms (I've got one bathroom left!) is quickly becoming not an option.

I've discovered something during the hours I've spent high on paint fumes - the most important thing I've ever learned is to properly clean a paint brush.

A college degree, a brain brimming over with useless facts, working knowledge of Microsoft Office suites later and the most important thing I know is something I learned in 7th grade art. That and I love my paint brush. When Zippy told me that my little paint brush (stolen from the art room when I was a senior in high school) was "broken" I almost cried. I couldn't imagine having to replace that brush. It'd be like finding a new leg. The replacement might work, but it just wouldn't be the same.

I wonder what my parental units would have said had I told them I wasn't going to college - I had already learned the most important thing I could ever learn - how to clean a paintbrush.

What I did last night.....

2008-02-02T21:16:00.000-06:00

My super exciting evening:

I got off of work and picked up the boy from day-care. Apparently, he had been standing at the window saying, "Want you here now, Mom. Hurry up," since he got up from his nap. Everyday it gets tougher and tougher to want to go to work. We went to 'Great-Donalds' to celebrate the day's potty success (can I help it if I wanted ice cream?).

Then we ran around Great-Donalds for a while. A local Great-Donalds used to have a gas station attached. The gas station went out of business, but the gas station part of it is still there - so basically its one big room. Lots of fun for running. Then Baba decided he wanted to go to the library and pick out a Thomas movie. We went but arrived at the library 6 minutes after it closed. No Thomas movie. Darn.

So we went home and watched Clifford instead. We had a lovely dinner of soup and grilled cheese (um, Zennie, I hate to admit it, but Patty-Lou was right, I totally got heartburn from soup. Of course, I get heartburn from breathing because I'm pregnant.....) when Zippy came home and then it was time for Baba to go to bed. Baba disagreed. We made a deal - if he went upstairs and got ready for bed, then we could watch one (1) Thomas story. We watched one (1) Thomas story and then Zippy shut off the TV. You would have though Zippy threw Baba's Pudgie (favoritest stuffed animal) out the window. Baba demanded justice - Dad needed to go in time out for shutting off the TV.

After the fit was over, we went upstairs to read books. I was invited to lay with the boy and accepted. I'm not sure who feel asleep first - me or him.

I woke up to the worst heartburn in the world, took a couple tums, and then got to do my favoritest thing of all: BALANCE MY CHECKBOOK!!!!!! It took me longer than it should have because I pulled the number I was supposed to be balancing to out of my arse. It balanced perfectly once I realized that. Then I went to bed.

The End

Most exciting evening ever?

My quest

2008-01-29T20:25:00.000-06:00

Maybe its the hormones talking, but I have decided that Rudolph will not be happy unless she is sleeping in a lime green crib...

And my crib needs to be cheap. I'm not spending a ton of money on something that the child will be sleeping in for maybe 3 years (Baba lasted a year. Apparently, scaling the wall of the crib, balancing on the edge, yelling "Baba jump!" is more fun than sleeping. I suppose hearing/seeing Mom and Dad run into your room after each crash would be amusing).

I mean, really, I've spent at least 5 minutes looking. If they can make a crib like the above, why can't I get a simple, lime green crib. And, its kind of creepy that you would put your child in the belly of a horse to sleep. Of course, Rudolph will be sleeping in the roar room, but still.

Side note. Baba still insists we should name his sister "RudolphtherednosedreindeerFionna." I'm all for unique names and Rudolph is unique, especially for a girl. But can you imagine learning to write that in Kindergarten? The other kids are Joe, Jane, Bob, Kayla, and your name is RudolphtherednosedreindeerFionna.

The Apple and other quick stories

2008-01-17T20:57:00.000-06:00

Zippy heard Baba singing "Old McDonald" (always a favorite) in his room tonight when he was supposed to be sleeping. Zippy went in to check on him and found Baba sitting under his nightlight reading one of his farm books.

I so used to do that. When my sister and I used to share a room, we would take turns reading under the night light. And take turns tattling on the other for reading under the night light when we were supposed to be sleeping. Sometimes, he is so much like me, it scares me.

Baba mentioned tonight that he would like his Bob birthday party, please. I asked who he was inviting to the party - Ma, Pa, Mr. & Mrs. Zooker, Ziz, Zicah, Harvard Zosh, and Wili (the cat). It's going to be one heck of a party!

And, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Fionna is still, by far, Baba's favorite name for his baby sister. We have until May to convince him otherwise.

Baba's Rocking Chair

2008-01-11T21:48:00.000-06:00

Baba has a rocking chair, which used to be my sister's rocking chair. There is a picture of my sister sitting in what used to be her rocking chair on the wall at my parents house. Baba didn't really notice it until Christmas. And then became obsessed with why Mrs. Zucher was in her rocking chair and "what can we do to get her out my rocking chair?"

The other highlight of Christmas was my handsome little man in his suit (refused to wear the tie - wonder where he gets that from) and him tearing the paper off every present at my parents house and then carrying it over to Great Pa to show him.

Survey Says

2008-01-08T21:21:00.000-06:00

I take a lot of online surveys. Its a great way to earn some extra cash, but please stop asking me if I would be friends with a certain brand if it came to life. I honestly don't know if I would like Target the person as much as I like Target the store.

An update on the plastic hot dog....

2008-01-07T21:28:00.001-06:00

When we were in the bathroom getting ready for bed tonight, Baba noticed the plastic hot dog and said, "That don't belong in the bathroom. The bathroom is for people, not for hot dogs."

The hot dog has safely been relocated to Baba's room.

In my bathroom.....

2008-01-06T20:34:00.000-06:00

The following items have taken up residence in my bathroom. If they are yours, please claim them.

1. One red tractor.
2. One green tractor with dual rear wheels.
3. One watch that is 1 hour and 15 minutes fast (it is 15 minutes fast so you think you are running 15 minutes behind and don't dally in the morning. It is an hour fast because we got the watch a couple years ago in a Happy Meal and can't figure out how to change it. In a couple months, it will only be 15 minutes fast).
4. One puzzle book.
5. One hardcover copy of John Gresham's the Rainmaker.
6. One green step stool.
7. One plastic hot dog.
8. One copy of "Let's Build."
9. One blue cup.
10. One super old copy of Fortune magazine.

Haircuts

2007-12-18T16:17:00.000-06:00

Zippy and I had been thinking Baba needed a haircut for a while. But its so hit and miss with that one - he either screams the entire time or is as good as gold, so we put off the hair cut as long as possible (I trim the back when it starts looking mulletish - no child (or husband) of mine is leaving the house with a mullet).

Last Saturday, out of the blue, Baba announced he wanted Mrs. Mooker (he has taken to calling my sister Mrs. Mooker and nothing else) to cut his hair. I called up Mrs. Mooker and told her to bring her clippers.

After a few minutes, Baba decided he no longer wanted Mrs. Mooker to cut his hair. I asked if Pa could cut his hair. He said no. I asked if Ma could cut his hair. He said no. I asked if Mom or Dad or Mr. Mooker or Pudgie (my parent's dog) could cut his hair. He said no to all of the above.

I asked who could cut his hair.

He thought for a while and then said Harvard Zosh.

In the end, he settled for Mrs. Mooker (who's haircutting name is Dalia, by the way. I think she's adopted).

Swedish Cooking for the Sophisticated Urbanite

2007-12-10T20:39:00.001-06:00

Ziz, who fries everything (seriously, fish, zucchini, green tomatoes) in butter flavored Crisco has been insisting that us Swedes are weird since she arrived. We are weird because we eat lefsa (technically, that's Norwegian, but its still darn good), Lutefisk (what's wrong with cod soaked in lye with some nice white sauce? And boiled potatoes, can't forget the boiled potatoes), and pankakor (egg pancakes - they are delicious).

But we throw down tonight. Zippy used my great grandma's recipe and made Swedish meatballs. Yeah, she's coming around. Lutefisk here we come!

Waiting for Christmas

2007-12-04T21:03:00.000-06:00

We put up the Christmas tree at our house Saturday night. We were snowed in and had nothing better to do. Since then, Baba has been trying to convince us it is Christmas and it is time to open his presents. Every night he says, "We porgot to open our presents." We take turns telling he we didn't "porget" and he has to wait until Christmas.

Tonight we were talking about why he needs to learn all the letters in his name - so he can "read" the packages on Christmas and pick out which are his. I told him that he would have presents at Great Ma's house, Ma and Pa's house, Grandmy and Grandpy's house, and Baba's new house.

He said, "Wow."

He paused and then asked, "Will Harvard Zosh have presents for me at his house too?"

I told him he can hop on a plane and find out. :-)