I know I promised a couple of posts ago that I would explain my quirks with October 31st. First I'll just say that I know I'm in the minority here and I'm not trying to convince anyone... just stating my position. Here it is: I think it's lame. That's it. What? Not enough.... ?
It irks me that people call it a holiday. The word holiday came from "holy day". So far doesn't qualify. Well, now the definition has come to include any day where "observation is warranted". I guess that's up to you. If you look up the history of halloween it's straight out of the middle ages and if we are still doing that then we might as well tie Hermione to a stake.
I know some people think it's so much fun to dress up and dress up the kids and the dog and decorate the house and the yard and their desks at work and whatever else they can get their hands on. I just don't get it. To me the biggest thing I have to worry about is trying not to take the kids into Wal-Greens for two months because the decorations freak them out. Oh that and explaining to people why I'm not as excited as they are. The house across the street has ghost decorations and Owen thinks they are bunnies. You think I corrected him?
I am the only person I know that has never been trick-or-treating. My parents (hi mom!) had pretty extreme views of halloween when I was growing up. I used to think that when I was old enough I would just go all out and that would show them. But instead I grew up and asked myself "what is the point?" I never have come up with a good answer, so here I am: the Scrooge of halloween.
I would let the kids dress up if they wanted to, although I draw the line at trick-or treating. I just think it's rude to knock on a door and expect them to give you candy. Collin has had a costume for the last two years, but he has never wanted to wear it on the day, or in front of people. I don't blame him, I would feel silly too. As for Owen... we are still trying to talk that child into wearing pj's to bed. He spent the entire day today in just his diaper and loved every second of it. Good luck trying to get a costume on that one.
So again, not trying to convince anyone, just saying I'm gonna need a better reason to go out of my way. None of this stuff is fun for me. Bah humbug.
Don't worry, I'll cheer up for Thanksgiving. There is always something to be thankful for... like the kids in my neighborhood respecting the porch light and not ringing my bell. :)
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
It was a dark and scary night......
About an hour ago at 10:30 I was just getting ready to go to bed. I had ten minutes left to watch of my movie on Netflix instant and I hear a doorbell. My first thought was that I don't see how that sound could fit in to the movie at this point, then I realize that it was my actual doorbell. Timothy is out of town again this week and even if he wasn't I probably still wouldn't have answered the door so late. I snuck past the front door with the window at the top to get to the other side of the house for two reasons: that's where the boys are sleeping and I want to be closer to them in this moment of uncertainty and also because their bedroom windows are the only ones in the house that look out onto the street. I see someone standing on the front porch with a flashlight and a truck parked in the street in front of the house. It looked like a work truck, but I couldn't see any logos on the side or anything.
I called Timothy who was most likely already sleeping and didn't answer, then wondered what I expected him to do about this anyway. By this point scary flashlight man is walking around my yard and I'm trying to watch him through the blinds and not let him see me at the same time. Then I called my cousin David who lives only a couple of miles away who said he'd be right over and agreed I should call the police. While on the phone with 911 the scary flashlight man managed to get over the fence into the backyard!
I'm running from the kids' rooms to check on them and look outside to the window in the kitchen to watch the backyard too. Then freaky scary flashlight man pulls out the biggest chainsaw I have ever seen and starts cutting down my neighbor's tree that hangs over our fence. By this time a part of my brain was thinking this has to be someone from the power company, but I was too far into panic mode at this time to listen to it. Finally, the nice guy on the phone tells me the cops are outside, it's just a utility truck and I should go outside to talk to the officer.
I go outside and see the police car about 3 houses down where he had pulled David over for speeding! They were more worried about giving him a ticket than making sure I was okay! I hovered on my front porch for a bit, not wanting to walk away from my house where the two boys are sleeping with scary flashlight/chainsaw man still on the loose, but it was soon obvious that the police were not going to come to me and I was going to have to go to them. So I ran down the street in my bare feet and told them I was the one that called and please come check on the guy roaming my yard and please don't give my cousin a ticket for trying to come save me.
Well the cops were pretty much jerks and thought I was a stupid girl, but at least David didn't get a ticket. They finally went and talked to the utility guy and then said they were going to leave. David and Sheila came inside and sat with me for a few minutes to calm me down. I'm really grateful they live so close by and stay up late.
An hour later, I feel kinda stupid, but I would probably do it the same way again. And if you think guys walking around at night with flashlights aren't scary then you should go watch E.T. again.
I called Timothy who was most likely already sleeping and didn't answer, then wondered what I expected him to do about this anyway. By this point scary flashlight man is walking around my yard and I'm trying to watch him through the blinds and not let him see me at the same time. Then I called my cousin David who lives only a couple of miles away who said he'd be right over and agreed I should call the police. While on the phone with 911 the scary flashlight man managed to get over the fence into the backyard!
I'm running from the kids' rooms to check on them and look outside to the window in the kitchen to watch the backyard too. Then freaky scary flashlight man pulls out the biggest chainsaw I have ever seen and starts cutting down my neighbor's tree that hangs over our fence. By this time a part of my brain was thinking this has to be someone from the power company, but I was too far into panic mode at this time to listen to it. Finally, the nice guy on the phone tells me the cops are outside, it's just a utility truck and I should go outside to talk to the officer.
I go outside and see the police car about 3 houses down where he had pulled David over for speeding! They were more worried about giving him a ticket than making sure I was okay! I hovered on my front porch for a bit, not wanting to walk away from my house where the two boys are sleeping with scary flashlight/chainsaw man still on the loose, but it was soon obvious that the police were not going to come to me and I was going to have to go to them. So I ran down the street in my bare feet and told them I was the one that called and please come check on the guy roaming my yard and please don't give my cousin a ticket for trying to come save me.
Well the cops were pretty much jerks and thought I was a stupid girl, but at least David didn't get a ticket. They finally went and talked to the utility guy and then said they were going to leave. David and Sheila came inside and sat with me for a few minutes to calm me down. I'm really grateful they live so close by and stay up late.
An hour later, I feel kinda stupid, but I would probably do it the same way again. And if you think guys walking around at night with flashlights aren't scary then you should go watch E.T. again.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Chocolate Tea
I got to stay home with Owen tonight while Timothy took Collin to T-ball practice. We had a blast doing 2-year-old stuff. We watched Mickey Mouse and Imagination Movers and then he had a bubble bath! Collin actually started the tradition of making chocolate tea for me, so I need to be sure to give him credit, but Owen caught on quickly. When they have bubbles in the bath they will scoop up some water with a cup and leave the foam on top. This is chocolate tea with whipped cream. Collin started serving me tea because I don't like coffee. If I'm lucky I will get some pretend chocolate syrup and a cherry on top. So tonight Owen made me some tea and I had to record the moment:
Here is a transcription for those that don't speak Owen:
ME: Hey Owen what is that?
Owen: um, chocolate tea.
Me: Who's it for?
Owen: um, Mommy.
Me: Aw thank you. You're so sweet.
Owen: Oop! Dump all out tea!
Me: Where's my chocolate tea?
Owen: Dump all out.
Me: oh no.
Owen: Ma, me get more.
Me ok, you get some more.
Here is a transcription for those that don't speak Owen:
ME: Hey Owen what is that?
Owen: um, chocolate tea.
Me: Who's it for?
Owen: um, Mommy.
Me: Aw thank you. You're so sweet.
Owen: Oop! Dump all out tea!
Me: Where's my chocolate tea?
Owen: Dump all out.
Me: oh no.
Owen: Ma, me get more.
Me ok, you get some more.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Link!
Collin has been absolutely obsessed with Zelda the past couple of months. I don't mind admitting that I know how he feels, it's an awesome game. For any that were living under a rock especially in the 80's and 90's, Zelda is a Nintendo video game about a little boy named Link who looks like an elf and his mission is (you guessed it!) to save the princess, Zelda. Collin has been playing on our old Nintendo 64 and after he warmed up with Mario for a few weeks he has moved on to my favorite game of all time. Zelda is intense and takes hours and hours to complete even if you know what you're doing, but the awesome part for Collin is that you can just sort of wander around and explore places, which he does endlessly. He is still a bit scared to confront many of the 'bad guys' but there are so many places to go and things to do in the game so he can easily avoid them.
He has been saying for awhile that he wants to be Link. I found a bow and arrow at Wal-Mart a couple weeks ago for him and that was exciting, but he keeps asking for more Link stuff. Link has a LOT of stuff. He wants a hook-shot, sling-shot, magic, a sword, shield, a shirt that lets you breathe under water, boots that fly... the list just goes on and on. He finally said that he wanted a Link costume so I started looking for one. But since Zelda is SO ten years ago, costumes are hard to find. The best I could find was someone on eBay willing to make custom order costumes for about $30. Then the craziness began and I thought "Hey, I could do that." You all should already know, I do NOT sew. Maybe a button here or there, or if I'm feeling really lucky I may attempt to save some poor stuffed animal that has suffered a horrible accident. I did do a couple of blankets around the time Owen was born, but no one wears a blanket unless the are playing Superman and need a cape. Mostly we take advantage of my wonderful mother-in-law who can completely put Martha Stewart to shame. She can make anything and it's always amazing.
After wandering the craft section of the previously mentioned Wal-Mart and feeling like an idiot, I found some material and thread. (Thanks to Sally for recommending the felt!) When I got home I felt even dumber for ever expecting to create something wearable from these raw materials. I found some instructions online that basically involved tracing one of Collin's t-shirts and cutting it out. I had this thing all pinned up with safety pins, because I'm not cool enough to have those straight pins that people have when they actually know how to sew. When Collin first saw it in it's rough first draft form he made a face and said he didn't want to be Link anymore. We had to have a Mommy/Collin conference at that point and I explained that I had already put some time and money into this thing and if he was going to be rude about it we could just throw it in the trash. He totally called my bluff and agreed that indeed the thing I was calling his costume should be thrown into the trash as soon as possible. He explained his argument as well as a 4-year-old could and said that he didn't want to wear Link's shirt, but instead he just wanted to actually BE Link. He wanted all the accessories and tools that Link uses, but he was not comfortable wearing elf clothes. I explained that if he wasn't dressed like our brave hero then no one was going to know he was Link and would just think he was Collin with a sword for some reason. This seemed to work for him and he agreed to wait and see how the costume turned out. I was still curious myself as to how it would turn out at this point.
Well here is the final product and I think it worked out way better than I could have hoped for. Collin changed his mind and I think he is happy it didn't go into the trash. He wears it all the time now.
I was particularly proud of the collar and the sleeves, since I've never done either before. :) I still have to make some boots... he wants me to make 3 pairs of boots like Link has: Hover boots (lets you float in the air), Iron boots (helps you sink and walk under water) and then the regular boots. He also really wants some gauntlets, little fingerless gloves that go up to the forearm, and he needs the golden gauntlets and not the silver ones because he needs the extra strength to pick up huge rocks! If nothing else I think playing this game has helped him work on his memory skills. You have to play certain songs to go different places and use certain weapons at the right time etc. He has also discovered that if you keep practicing you will improve on whatever you are trying to do.
I found a sword and shield for him at Target:
Some folks have asked what kind of costume Owen is going to wear and my answer to that is: are you kidding me? The kid doesn't even like clothes!
If you were wondering, and I know you are, I have intentionally left out the "H" word from this story up until this point, but since it is October and I am one of about 5 people on the planet that does not get excited about the last day of this month it will come back to haunt me I'm sure. I will give you another post soon about my quirks about that day.
He has been saying for awhile that he wants to be Link. I found a bow and arrow at Wal-Mart a couple weeks ago for him and that was exciting, but he keeps asking for more Link stuff. Link has a LOT of stuff. He wants a hook-shot, sling-shot, magic, a sword, shield, a shirt that lets you breathe under water, boots that fly... the list just goes on and on. He finally said that he wanted a Link costume so I started looking for one. But since Zelda is SO ten years ago, costumes are hard to find. The best I could find was someone on eBay willing to make custom order costumes for about $30. Then the craziness began and I thought "Hey, I could do that." You all should already know, I do NOT sew. Maybe a button here or there, or if I'm feeling really lucky I may attempt to save some poor stuffed animal that has suffered a horrible accident. I did do a couple of blankets around the time Owen was born, but no one wears a blanket unless the are playing Superman and need a cape. Mostly we take advantage of my wonderful mother-in-law who can completely put Martha Stewart to shame. She can make anything and it's always amazing.
After wandering the craft section of the previously mentioned Wal-Mart and feeling like an idiot, I found some material and thread. (Thanks to Sally for recommending the felt!) When I got home I felt even dumber for ever expecting to create something wearable from these raw materials. I found some instructions online that basically involved tracing one of Collin's t-shirts and cutting it out. I had this thing all pinned up with safety pins, because I'm not cool enough to have those straight pins that people have when they actually know how to sew. When Collin first saw it in it's rough first draft form he made a face and said he didn't want to be Link anymore. We had to have a Mommy/Collin conference at that point and I explained that I had already put some time and money into this thing and if he was going to be rude about it we could just throw it in the trash. He totally called my bluff and agreed that indeed the thing I was calling his costume should be thrown into the trash as soon as possible. He explained his argument as well as a 4-year-old could and said that he didn't want to wear Link's shirt, but instead he just wanted to actually BE Link. He wanted all the accessories and tools that Link uses, but he was not comfortable wearing elf clothes. I explained that if he wasn't dressed like our brave hero then no one was going to know he was Link and would just think he was Collin with a sword for some reason. This seemed to work for him and he agreed to wait and see how the costume turned out. I was still curious myself as to how it would turn out at this point.
Well here is the final product and I think it worked out way better than I could have hoped for. Collin changed his mind and I think he is happy it didn't go into the trash. He wears it all the time now.
I was particularly proud of the collar and the sleeves, since I've never done either before. :) I still have to make some boots... he wants me to make 3 pairs of boots like Link has: Hover boots (lets you float in the air), Iron boots (helps you sink and walk under water) and then the regular boots. He also really wants some gauntlets, little fingerless gloves that go up to the forearm, and he needs the golden gauntlets and not the silver ones because he needs the extra strength to pick up huge rocks! If nothing else I think playing this game has helped him work on his memory skills. You have to play certain songs to go different places and use certain weapons at the right time etc. He has also discovered that if you keep practicing you will improve on whatever you are trying to do.
I found a sword and shield for him at Target:
Some folks have asked what kind of costume Owen is going to wear and my answer to that is: are you kidding me? The kid doesn't even like clothes!
If you were wondering, and I know you are, I have intentionally left out the "H" word from this story up until this point, but since it is October and I am one of about 5 people on the planet that does not get excited about the last day of this month it will come back to haunt me I'm sure. I will give you another post soon about my quirks about that day.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Go Rangers!
I can't even begin to tell you what I have been doing for the last week other than being a nervous ball of energy about the Rangers winning their first ever post-season series! Yup, really don't remember much other than that. Well, I made a costume that is pretty cool. Oh, and I got to hang out with my awesome cousins on Saturday. Watched a couple movies yesterday. I think that's it. I must have been busy because it's already October 12 and I'm not even sure I've flipped the calendar from September yet. I obviously need some sleep, but I promise I will give you a story and pictures of that costume soon. We have until Friday to recover and get ready to take on the Yankees!
Just remembered, I set my own record this week: I managed to give those boys their 10 day antibiotic without missing a dose! Never happened before in this house. I got lucky because it was just a twice a day medicine, but still... I think it's pretty cool!
Just remembered, I set my own record this week: I managed to give those boys their 10 day antibiotic without missing a dose! Never happened before in this house. I got lucky because it was just a twice a day medicine, but still... I think it's pretty cool!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Oh, my silly Owen
Owen is getting so big and he is changing everyday. He is trying more and more to do everything "yike Bubba" and "by self". Today his new thing is to fall down (on purpose) and then say, "I'm otay!" We all think it's pretty funny and cute so he keeps doing it and we keep laughing. I have noticed that when he actually falls or bumps his head or any other kind of minor injury he doesn't complain nearly as much as he did even a couple of weeks ago. He used to always run over for kisses and cuddles for any kind of owie, but now he will often just keep playing. I catch myself starting to go over to him but before I get there he is off again like it never happened. Oh well, at least he isn't driving yet.
I have always thought that Collin just got more fun as he got older so I wasn't as sad when it happened. I think because I also knew that I wanted another child so I knew I would get to do it all over again. But it's a bit different with Owen because he's the baby I guess. Still, I'm looking forward to him growing and being able to do more things.
For example, I will not be sad to see the diapers go. He is going to be stubborn about the whole potty training thing too. He totally freaks out if I even suggest trying to go to the potty! He has his little potty chair that he will occasionally try out and a little potty seat to go on the toilet that he even picked out himself that he has never used. He will not even consider the toilet because it's "Bubba's potty". I can hear you all now with your thoughts of he is too little and don't force the poor thing, but I'm telling you that the kid knows when he needs to go. He tells me all the time, "Mommy, need new diaper. Me go pee-pee." I think if he can say that then he could use the potty. Oh well, I'm not going to push it too much yet.... but I'm also not going to play this game too much longer either.
Here is a picture from last night.... Owen and Collin were playing in their rooms and he just came out like this:
"Mommy, yook me!" Awesome! He has his Spiderman undies on over his diaper, so cute! It is really hard to keep clothes on that boy. He knows how to undress himself pretty well and will do so at the drop of a hat. We are always asking him if he would like a shirt or pants and he will say in his little sing-song voice "Noooooo. Just diaper!" We don't mind him running around like that most of the time but pretty soon it's going to be cold and that may cause a problem. I had to wrestle him into his pj's tonight because he just wanted to sleep in his diaper. The last couple of mornings he has been like an ice cube when he wakes up and that bothers me even if it doesn't bother him.
A couple of nights ago when I was putting him to bed I asked what song he wanted to sing. Normally he like Jesus Loves Me (Jesus) or You Are My Sunshine (Sun-sign). Instead of the faithful favorites he decided to go with Happy Birthday. Okay, sure.... who should we sing happy birthday to? "Um, chocolate milk." You want to sing happy birthday to chocolate milk? "Yeah. And pancake!" So that is how the new tradition began and we have spent the last several nights singing "happy birthday dear chocolate milk and pancake" and he loves it every time! I love that my boys are creative and like to imagine. It just doesn't get better than that. :)
Here is another picture, again with no shirt... he likes to be my helper in the kitchen and you just can't be a helper without sitting on the counter.
I think that is all I have for tonight. Don't forget to cheer on the Rangers for their first game of the playoffs tomorrow. I don't know who decided that the games needed to be in the middle of the day, but that person is really lame. I'm thankful that my job allows me to listen to my earphones as I work so I can keep up with the game, but I was really looking forward to watching it.
I have always thought that Collin just got more fun as he got older so I wasn't as sad when it happened. I think because I also knew that I wanted another child so I knew I would get to do it all over again. But it's a bit different with Owen because he's the baby I guess. Still, I'm looking forward to him growing and being able to do more things.
For example, I will not be sad to see the diapers go. He is going to be stubborn about the whole potty training thing too. He totally freaks out if I even suggest trying to go to the potty! He has his little potty chair that he will occasionally try out and a little potty seat to go on the toilet that he even picked out himself that he has never used. He will not even consider the toilet because it's "Bubba's potty". I can hear you all now with your thoughts of he is too little and don't force the poor thing, but I'm telling you that the kid knows when he needs to go. He tells me all the time, "Mommy, need new diaper. Me go pee-pee." I think if he can say that then he could use the potty. Oh well, I'm not going to push it too much yet.... but I'm also not going to play this game too much longer either.
Here is a picture from last night.... Owen and Collin were playing in their rooms and he just came out like this:
"Mommy, yook me!" Awesome! He has his Spiderman undies on over his diaper, so cute! It is really hard to keep clothes on that boy. He knows how to undress himself pretty well and will do so at the drop of a hat. We are always asking him if he would like a shirt or pants and he will say in his little sing-song voice "Noooooo. Just diaper!" We don't mind him running around like that most of the time but pretty soon it's going to be cold and that may cause a problem. I had to wrestle him into his pj's tonight because he just wanted to sleep in his diaper. The last couple of mornings he has been like an ice cube when he wakes up and that bothers me even if it doesn't bother him.
A couple of nights ago when I was putting him to bed I asked what song he wanted to sing. Normally he like Jesus Loves Me (Jesus) or You Are My Sunshine (Sun-sign). Instead of the faithful favorites he decided to go with Happy Birthday. Okay, sure.... who should we sing happy birthday to? "Um, chocolate milk." You want to sing happy birthday to chocolate milk? "Yeah. And pancake!" So that is how the new tradition began and we have spent the last several nights singing "happy birthday dear chocolate milk and pancake" and he loves it every time! I love that my boys are creative and like to imagine. It just doesn't get better than that. :)
Here is another picture, again with no shirt... he likes to be my helper in the kitchen and you just can't be a helper without sitting on the counter.
I think that is all I have for tonight. Don't forget to cheer on the Rangers for their first game of the playoffs tomorrow. I don't know who decided that the games needed to be in the middle of the day, but that person is really lame. I'm thankful that my job allows me to listen to my earphones as I work so I can keep up with the game, but I was really looking forward to watching it.
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