cleanliness is godliness (?)

Towards bedtime tonight, Kiddo announced, "Mommy, I think I need to take a shower.  I know I just took one last night, but I smell really dirty.  I really need a shower."

How many 7-year-old boys say that?

What he really wanted, however, was not to get clean.

What he really wanted was to stand in the warm water for 20 minutes while he played with his map puzzle.

Oh, my dear child, how you make me laugh.

weekend happenings

Kiddo was a builder extraordinaire last night.

This afternoon, his city was inhabited by a dozen rubber ducks.

The city has some crazy, long name that I can't remember.  But I can assure you that the word "duck" is in it at least once.

We hit Lowes this morning to take advantage of their "Build and Grow" kids workshop and to snag some supplies for a "honey-do" project I've assigned to Hubby.

If you haven't heard about the kids workshops at Home Depot and/or Lowes, you can check them out here and here.  They are on Saturday mornings (once or twice a month, depending on the store), they are free, and they are fun!  The kids get their own Home Depot or Lowes apron and get to practice their hammering skills on pre-cut, usually-perfectly-fitting pieces of wood with lighter, kid-sized hammers.  Kiddo has been going for over three years now and still really enjoys it.  This morning they were making pull-back race cars.

Kiddo finished up his car at about the same time as two girls sitting near us, so the three of them got together and had races down the lumber aisle.

They had so much fun - they raced over and over, congratulating each other whenever their car won, and giggling when their cars ran into a cart or each other.

Will my heart ever stop swelling when I see my son having fun and interacting well with other kids?  He has learned so much in the past two years.

I love that boy to pieces.

After running a couple of errands, we stopped at Chick-fil-A for lunch.

The kids meals have games in them this month.  The game we got?  "Ducks in a Row."

Kiddo was tickled.  Pink.  

We had a great time playing several rounds together after we were finished eating.  (I will note, by the way, that I beat Hubby - barely).  We are so spoiled.  Chick-fil-A is so pleasant, and it's just fun to hang out there as a family...every other fast-food chain just pales in comparison.  Happy sigh...we heart Chick-fil-A.

We picked up some window markers while we were out, so Kiddo tried them out as soon as we got home.

They are fun!  I am dreaming up all kinds of possibilities for them.  Mirrors!  Car windows!  Drinking glasses!  Eye glasses!  Secret messages hidden behind curtains or shades!   

I've been itching to get outside, so I did dash out this afternoon to take care of a few jobs.  I cleaned up the yard a little bit, but it didn't take long until the cold had numbed my fingers and I was forced back inside.  I am getting really anxious for some warmer weather.  Weather like this:

Oh, some day soon.  I hope!

I was planning on Ree's BBQ chicken and pineapple quesadillas for dinner tonight (in our house, appetizers can magically transform into main courses).  However, our BBQ chicken quesadillas became BBQ chicken pizza when a shortage of tortillas was discovered mid-recipe.  Oops.  Not the same thing, but still tasty.

just for fun {more kiddo-isms}

Here are some of my favorite quotes from Kiddo.  These are all from when he was younger - he doesn't have quite as many zingers as he used to.  Hope they make you smile!

"I may be small, but I will grow bigger."

"No way, no way, no way, no way!"
(singing the chorus to "The First Noel")
 

Family friend: "Kiddo, can I see your muscles?"
Kiddo: "No, they're inside me!"

"Oh, boy. Are you sure you want to wear those?" (referring to my sandals)

Kiddo: "Mommy, why don't you like my cereal?"
Me: "Well, why don't you like scrambled eggs?"
Kiddo: "God just made me that way!"

"I don't want to go to school. I want to stay home with you, Mommy, because you're my buddy."

"Supper is very good, Dear.  Thanks for making it!"

"It ouched me!"

"I'm silly because I'm 4. Mommy is 32, but sometimes she's silly anyway."

"Can you hear it, Mommy?"
(with his head pressed up against my ear, trying to get me to hear the song stuck in his head)

Me (while discussing the consequences of not cleaning up): "Does Mrs. Brenda [preschool teacher] put you in time out when you don't help clean up at school?"
Kiddo: "Yeah, if she can find me."

"They need to re-pave this road. It's atrocious!"

"You smell like Mommy. I like the Mommy smell."

"Mom? I'm glad you're my mommy."

"Mommy, if we get a baby, will I still be your favorite boy in the whole world?"

"Daddy is at work. The other daddy is still in bed sleeping."
(2 years old, in a public place...he had an imaginary friend named "The Other Daddy")

mommy and me {crayola factory}

Hubby spent the day skiing with the youth group from church.  I stayed with Kiddo.  It was not a hard choice.  After a couple of attempts at learning to ski as an adult, I decided there are some things that I don't have to do before I die - and skiing is one of them.  It looks like fun, but I just can not get the hang of it.

So Kiddo and I spent the morning at the Crayola Factory.  Kiddo wanted to go because "we ALWAYS go to the Crayola Factory in February."  Once two years ago apparently counts as "always," but it sounded like fun to me, so I didn't argue.  We downloaded a new CD and hit the road.

(It snowed last night.  Again.  The snow gods apparently didn't get the message
that snow isn't allowed after I have found crocus sprouts.)

(waiting at the drying oven)

(The window marker wall.  Yes, the lighting was bad.  And yes, I love the flowers on that woman's purse/diaper bag/whatever it is.)

(painting with melted crayon)

When the crowds started to build up and we felt like we were running out of elbow room, we headed home, making a quick stop to gas up Hubby's car and run it through the car wash so we could surprise him with a clean car and a tank full of gas when he headed out to work tomorrow morning (the swaggerless wagon spent the day with Hubby, hauling teenagers around).

We spent the rest of the day playing with matchbox cars, drawing with newly acquired Crayola markers, and watching "Cars" over a carpet picnic dinner.

It was a good day.  Over the past few weeks, I have felt like I haven't been connecting with Kiddo very well, so it was nice to have him all to myself for a few hours, away from the distractions of computer games, e-mail, housework, Wii and laundry, doing something that we both enjoy. I'm hoping I can do a better job over the next few weeks - he's growing up too fast to take even the ordinary days that I have with him for granted.

Kiddo-isms

Quotes from Kiddo while building race tracks:

"Look, Mommy, the car has to go through a loopty-doop!"

"Boy, Mommy, that track was treacherous!"

"Oh boy, this track is going to be brutal."

I went to pick up Kiddo from school this afternoon...(drum roll, please)...without a coat!  And with coneflower seed stuck to my sleeve from poking in the flowerbeds looking for daffodil shoots.  I didn't find any daffodils, but I did find these:

Hello, little ones!

It has been balmy and wonderful - it almost hit 70 degrees this afternoon.  The snow is FINALLY melting away and we can see the grass that we haven't seen since Christmas.  What a glorious day!

After several months of respite, the sidewalks were reclaimed by chalk. 

And I remembered why Kiddo has so many pairs of pants.  I had forgotten all about chalk laundry.

Kiddo and I went for a walk around the block...partly because it was just too beautiful not to, and partly to check on all of the ditches and storm drains that were running high with snow melt.

 

 

"The ditch is really running, Mommy.  That's impressive!" 

And now it's bedtime and the wind is howling and whistling around the corners of the house - blowing the blissfully warm air away and bringing back the cold stuff.  Sigh...but at least now it feels like Spring is on its way.  Happy dance!

P.S.  Before the wind started howling, I thought I would copy Jess and take some pictures of the moon.

It did not go well.

Hope you have a great weekend!!

happy {belated} birthday to me!

My birthday was on Friday.  I turned 35.  35 used to seem a whole lot older than it does now.  Actually, sometimes it still seems old (like when I stop to notice the wrinkles and cracking joints, or when I talk about college and realize it was 15 years ago already).

Hubby treated me to a THICK new book - and then played with Kiddo all weekend so I could spend my time curled up on the couch, reading.  Kiddo wrote me a story about a duck and his mommy on a paper wheel that he fastened down with a brad - I had to turn the wheel to see the story.  It was very cute and creative and special.  And on the back, there was a pocket with a blank wheel stuck inside, "so that you can write a story for me, Mommy."

I treated myself to a Starbucks raspberry scone for breakfast, my mom took me out for lunch, and Hubby and Kiddo took me out for dinner.  What a great day!

Now that I am a year older, I am a year smarter, right?  That would be a good thing.  Maybe then I can avoid embarrassing encounters with local policemen, like I had on Thursday (when I was 34).

We have a U-shaped driveway, which is wonderful - until we get over a foot of snow and we have to get out the shovel (we keep telling ourselves there IS a snowblower in our future).  When the snow is that deep, we only shovel half of the "U".  The snow has slowly been melting over the past few weeks, so now there are only a few inches left on the unshoveled portion of the driveway.  So Thursday, on the way to drop Kiddo off at school, I decided I was going to drive through it (you can see where this is going, can't you?).  As soon as I had driven a few feet, I knew I was in trouble.  I made it to within about 10-15 feet of the road before I got stuck (FB friends, you have heard this already - feel free to skip to the end).

I resigned myself to getting Kiddo to school late, called my dad to come help me out, and then started digging.  While I waited for my dad, a policeman drove by and stopped to see what was going on. Our conversation went something like this (him with a tone of incredulity, me with high-pitched squeaks of embarrassment):

Him: "do you need help?"
Me: "um, no, I'm okay, thanks, someone is on there way to help me out."
Him: "are you stuck?"
Me: "yes"
Him: "do you live here?"
Me: "yes"
Him (looking at dry half of driveway): "seriously?!"
Me: "yes"
Him: "what were you trying to do, take a shortcut or something?"
Me: "uh huh"
Him: [stunned silence]
Me: [furious blushing] "stupid, I know."
Him: "but you don't need any help."
Me: "no, but thanks for stopping."
Him: [drives slowly away shaking his head]

I can just imagine myself as the topic of amused discussions around the coffee pot later that day.  Ah well.  I did manage to dig myself out - just as my dad drove up.  The school secretary got a good laugh about it too when we showed up half an hour late.

Kiddo was tickled by the whole incident.  When I told him I had learned my lesson, he said "Yeah!  NEVER drive on the snow...at least when you are trying to get me to school." 

good morning, sunshine! {happy valentine's day}

There are days when you wake up, look out the window...

...and just know it's going to be a good day.  

• Good morning kiss from Hubby before he headed out the door to work.
• Awesome sunrise.  The whole world was pink or purple or orange.  Everything glowed.
• Got Kiddo to school and then sat down to finish a 1,001-page behemoth of a good book (maybe now that my nose isn't stuck in said book, I can get something done around here).
• Cleaned up the house a bit before running to Kiddo's Valentine's party at school (controlled chaos, as always).
• Stepped outside without a coat.  Temps above 50 this week!  Hallelujah, it feels like spring!! 
• Got overwhelmed while thinking about preparations for summer Bible school at church (June!  It's right around the corner!  Aaack!).
• Wrote letters (and blog posts) in the parking lot while Kiddo was at an after-school playgroup.
• Went out to dinner with Hubby, Kiddo and my parents (not romantic, but still fun).  Left Mom and Dad with the bill (after we invited them to dinner) because the bill hadn't showed up yet and we needed to make a quick getaway with a tired boy before he imploded.  Not very classy on our part.
• Came home to a "gi-huge-ic" (Kiddo's word) Valentine from Hubby.  It is seriously huge.  Like over two feet tall huge.  Beyond "extra postage required" huge.  How fun!
• Snuggled up on the bed with Kiddo and read bedtime stories together.  A perfect way to end the day.

I am loved.
On beautiful days and ugly days.
I'm so glad.

shoulds and should nots

This is why I should never be allowed near kitchen utensils - particularly sharp ones.

(why yes, that is Lightning McQueen driving across my thumb)

And if you've ever wondered why you should clean the leaves out of your gutters, this would be why.

This is our brand new gutter that we just had installed this past fall.  The leaves plugged it up so that the water couldn't drain out.  The water froze and has sat there since Christmas, getting heavier and heavier with all the snow and freezing rain.  And yesterday the gutters decided they had had enough.

And if that weren't exciting enough, a large chunk of ice slid out of the gutter and landed here:

No wonder our basement was so cold this morning.

P.S.  Gutter helmets have just been added to our "to do" list.  And a new window.

the wall

The chalkboard wall was worth it.

It is a hit...Kiddo loves it!

His uncle and cousins like it, too.  :)
 

hooray

The sun was out today.  Hooray!
Everything was sparkly.

My book came today.  Hooray!
My husband stole it and started reading it before I had even cracked it open.  He opened it up to somewhere in the middle.  It happened to be a scene where they were preg-testing cattle.  He laughed and laughed and laughed. 

We finished our chalkboard wall tonight.  Hooray!
Kiddo is already planning what to draw on it tomorrow after it cures.  I am starting to get used to it now.  I have no pictures.  Yet.  Maybe tomorrow?

I have a day to myself tomorrow.  Hooray!
I am spending it cleaning house.  Not hooray, but I will be so pleased with the results of my labor.  A clean house makes me happy.  Not that it happens very often...

We are having our birthday party tomorrow night.  Hooray!
Our driveway is half-covered in ice and snow, leaving no room for our guests to park.  Uh oh.
At least it's pretty!