Give Them An Inch...

...and they take the whole mile.  I decided to let the kids pack their own lunches as I've seen many of my friends and neighbors do.  They're 5 and 6 and fully capable of doing this chore.  This comes on the heels of Nubbin asking for more chores in order to earn money. 

Well, Nubbin did a great job.... turkey and cheese sandwich, apple slices, chex mix and a cookie for snack... Fafa?  well, let's just say I'm coming up with guidelines this afternoon for healthy choices to 'help' them make good decisions.  He packed 2 cookies (one in it's own ziplock bag), apple slices and water.  He was quite pleased with himself, so I didn't steal his thunder... but, husband's concern made me think that I should have laid down the ground rules beforehand.  More independence will give them confidence right? 

There's a Logical Answer To All This

I thank the stars every day that I grew up speaking English.  Not because I'm elitist, but because the rules of the English language are just too complicated.  In English, rules are meant to be broken.  The 2nd son is my rule follower, even when it comes to language.  

We were playing a game the other night and Fafa was reminding everyone what place they came in during the game.  I, of course, was last.  As he's rattling off the places, he says, 'And mommy "comed" in last'... In our language, 'come-d' should have been 'came'... It really does sound logical when you think about the rules.  When he's talking about 'third', he also says, 'three-th'... again, it really does make sense.  Alas, I pity any non-english speaker... we really did make it harder than it should be.

Because You Asked Me

My New Year's resolution is to find a hobby... oh and a job.,, and be a better wife... well, I should probably quit while I'm ahead. So, I'm resolving to start this thing back up again. Here's the first picture of the new year. Can you tell that the boys have grown since the last post?

We're too old to play dress up.

Husband and I had a costume party on the night before Halloween. We went dressed up as Jack and Jill after they fell down the hill. Husband used his crutch from last year and I wrapped my ankle in a bandage... you can't tell from this, but we tried to smear some 'dirt' all over us to make it look authentic... thanks Sissy UncleT for all the help with the costumes

Halloween night I went as a rocker chick... really, I just wanted to borrow my neighbor's wig for the night... brought back many memories of strangely colored hair.

Happy Halloween

Halloween night - Nubbin is a bat and Fafa wanted to be a race car driver. I made Nubbin's costume out of an umbrella and Daddy made the hat with light up red LED's with the ears on top. Nubbin didn't wear the hat for long, but it was the coolest part of this whole costume.

Preschool Halloween parade for Fafa's class - dinosaur costume was too cute and he kept pulling it up because it was too long in the back.

I'm the room parent for Nubbin's kindergarten and took pics of the kids before the book character parade (the public school's version of a Halloween parade)... Fafa wanted to be part of the party too and he wouldn't get out of the picture :)

This side up only

Husband picked up Fafa by his waist and was trying to flip him upside down. However, Fafa forgot to mention that he had been playing in the neighbor's sandbox and had decided to put sand in his shirt pocket to 'save for later.' heehee. sandy daddy :)

The bird did it

The boys are really into 'karate' and kicking and being boys which means wanting to hit anything that has a pulse. or not. I'm reading to them the other night and all the sudden Fafa blurts out, 'When I see a robin, I'm going to kick him in the butt!' To which the other one chimes in, 'And when he's finished, I'm going to throw the robin through the window and he's going to hit a tree!'

Alarmed at this sudden burst of violence towards a seemingly gentle foe, I asked them, 'So, you really want to hurt a little bird? Don't you think that's a little harsh?' In my best moral mommy voice, I added 'and that's not very nice to treat animals like that.'

Shocked looks greeted my soapbox lecture and the boys both chimed in, 'NOT a bird, a ROBIN!!' All the sudden it became very clear. They MEANT to say, robber not robin. 'OH! I think you meant ROBBER, not robin.'

'YEAH!!! that's it!! we're going to kick the robin in the butt'... Hilarious child laughter ensues followed by a grown up sigh of relief after realizing that my kids may NOT be destined for jail.