Little Moments of Fun (or Insanity)

It occurred to me that I haven't posted anything in a few days so I wanted to ramble about our day and share some pictures (of course) with every one! Oh, and if you notice mistakes in the blog--I apologize.  I accepted the fact long ago that I can't write, but I can tell stories.  (Plus, it's difficult to find time to proofread and edit your blogs with two boys wrestling, chasing bugs, and getting into mischief!  So, I apologize for the lack of grammatical excellence . . .)

You know the phrase "America runs on Dunkin"?  Well, today, it's true--at least in my home.  My boys are lying on the couches in the living room watching The Little Einsteins as I type this.  I am sipping Dunkin Donuts Cinnamon Spice Coffee (thank you, Denisa!) and listening to Tina Turner sing, "We don't need another hero . . . We don't need to know the way home . . . "  I had forgotten how much I enjoy that song.  My sinuses are threatening to kick my butt, but I refuse to go down without a fight (so to speak).  The boys and I went to the library this morning and took all bazillion books back and checked out 6 more.  Yes, only 6.  The bag was so light as I carried it from the library to the car--what a refreshing feeling!  I am sure we will be back in a few days to add to the load.  I signed up the boys for the summer reading program, but the first time we went to find books on the list they were all (yes, you heard me, ALL) checked out. Today, I pulled out the list so we could see if any books were available and Alex rolled his eyes and said, "Not that again!"  I said, "It's the summer reading list!  THESE are the books you're supposed to read!" He gave me that annoyed expression, extended his arms out to his sides in a "what the . . . " pose and said, "Mom!" using that tone that I didn't realize started at the young age of five. I said, "What?"  He said, "I don't want to look for those books.  I want to read what I want to read."  I said, "We can still get books you pick out, but we can get some on the reading list too."  He said, "No, I don't want to.  I want to read what I want to read not what they tell me to read."  Logan, trying to help, shrugged his shoulders and said, "We could win a Wii."  Alex rolled his eyes, sighed, and slapped himself on the face over his eyes (Yes, literally slapped himself--the sound echoed through the library) and said, "Little brother, we already have a Wii!"  Logan looked up at me as if to say, "Hey, I tried!" I was tired and didn't feel like arguing with my 5-year-old son about what books to read in the middle of the library.  Have you ever tried to argue in a library?  You can only whisper so loud before you realize that maybe the library isn't the best place to have a disagreement. So, I folded the list up and put it away and the boys, smiles on their faces, hurried to pick out their books.

After the fun and excitement at the library we went to the park.  I have been trying to read House of Testosterone by Sharon O'Donnell for some time now. It is a hilarious book and there are so many parts in it where I want to shout, "YES!  That is how it is in my house!" When you're sitting in a park with other mothers it's not really a great idea to shout responses to the book you're reading, so I try to restrain myself.  We have started a routine where we go to the park and the boys play until they get tired or thirsty and then we go--which means they usually get to play for about an hour.  We left the park and drove by the university on our way home.  Logan pointed to it and said, "I want to go see daddy at his work."  I said, "Well, we are sweaty and gross and I don't think the ladies daddy works with would appreciate us coming in there all stinky."  Logan said, "Maybe we can stand outside and yell at him until he comes out to see us."  I told him we'd try to go yell at daddy another day.

We bought Blueberries for Sal a couple of weeks ago in honor of Logan's blueberry bush and we have read it many times.  I have even caught the boys acting out the story from time to time using Big Bear and Baby Bear (their stuffed animals--one was Jacob's as a child and one was mine). Yesterday morning we had to move the imaginations outside because Logan insisted on incorporating the blueberry bush into the game.  I have noticed that it is, in fact, Logan's blueberry bush--Alex asks Logan if he can water it before watering it, whenever a blueberry is ready to be picked Alex tells Logan and the berry is picked for Logan to eat.  He is a 4-year-old who loves his blueberry bush--it is the cutest thing.  When a bush or plant is pulled into a play group then you KNOW it's something special!

So, enough rambling--on to the pictures. 

This is the smiling face of one of the apple heads hanging in our garage.  The boys and I read The Apple Doll and the boys wanted to make their own apple dolls so we started the process last week.  They are still drying but starting to look more like they should (according to the directions in the book).  Once they're dry we'll give them bodies and clothe them--it could be great or a disaster--stay tuned!

Alex jumping on the couch--it's something he isn't supposed to do, but there are days (like today) when I hear the voice of my mother-in-law say, "Pick your battles" and I chose not to devote too much energy into forcing him to stop jumping and sit down.  He was smiling so big that I had to take a picture--two minutes later he was bored with it.

Logan searching for Sam-the-Snake's little brother (or Little Sam)--he got tired of a 4-year-old boy finding him and picking him up (well, Logan didn't pick him up, Jacob did, but I can guarantee that Logan would have picked up the snake had the opportunity presented itself) so he found a new hiding place--Logan is determined to find him!

Next . . . the apple dolls . . . I'll keep you posted!