7/1/09

Hulk Hands

Did you know they make green play sand? Those people at Crayola are pure geniuses.

I know this looks like the bargain basement sandbox, but really, I'm just trying to make it obvious to the neighborhood cats that this is not a rest stop.

An additional humorous bonus of the green play sand is that it sticks to Jackson's hands and makes them HULK HANDS! He didn't think this was nearly as funny as I did, but he prefers the Dirt Avenger as his personal super hero. You know the one with dual Swiffer Dust Phasers and a Dustbuster jet pack.

6/29/09

Best Buddies

This weekend the dog I thought would never grow up turned over a new leaf. She's just over two now. Everyone told us that she would be behaving better by two, but honestly, I didn't believe anyone. I am starting to see the light.






Sometime after this she snuck out in the backyard, gnawed on a brick, and later horfed in her kennel. Well, you can't expect her to give up all her vices at once, now can you.

6/10/09

"The best laid plans of mice and men . . ."

What I had planned for my evening tonight:
Race home, intercept child, send husband to meeting, prepare nutritious/delicious/FAST meal for the child, have "eureka" idea for creative play activity with child, bathe child and bid adieu for the night, complete painting project that has been in progress and on hold for no less than 2 weeks, perform organization and tidiness miracle on the homestead, receive husband home with love and joy, vegetate

What I got for the evening:
Raced home, intercepted child, sent husband to meeting, discovered that I am still a culinary disaster, extracted child from refrigerator, compromised on a chocolate pudding compliment to grilled cheese dinner (protein, dairy and carbs - look at the excellent balance there), discovered that child had not scheduled today as an eating day (I really believe he only eats 2-3 times a week; he seems fine with this. I'm just trying not to make up the difference myself), went out after the mail and discovered that the odd stillness indicated that perhaps the weatherman was not exaggerating about the "severe" storms this time, turned on TV, told child no less than 1 zillion times that he could not scream louder than the emergency broadcast signal, switched to weatherman, watched the sky turn an odd shade of green, called the husband to nonchalantly ask when he might possibly be able to come home, decided that the dog should go out, broke up a wrestling match between the dog and the child that started with the dog trying to drink out of his squiggly straw and ended with minor scratches and tears, corralled dog on leash, watched entire weather radar turn red, took phone calls from husband en-route that got cut off TWICE, completely lost power, decided it was time to hang out in the bathroom, had to find flashlights while hobbling around the house in the dark holding the child and dragging the dog, welcomed husband home to the dark bathroom with his happy little family, enjoyed some assistance in minor crisis management, decided we could come out of the bathroom, watched husband and child eat chips for dinner, dressed child for bed by flashlight (he has been mostly silent since the evacuation to the bathroom), cursed the blasted electric company, put the child in bed, realized that the smoke detector is beeping again because it has a low battery and this time it is the one in the vaulted ceiling that I don't have a prayer at reaching, sang the praises of the husband with extra height and more balance than me, read a book by flashlight, sent husband to bed at 8:30!, read book by flashlight until power came back on at 11!

My own little mini-drama! Sadly, the biggest learning here is that I am unequivocally dependant on my electricity. And that I have to get all the smoke detector batteries changed before they bite me again!

6/5/09

Meet the New Mouse in Town



This is Jackson with a few of his friends. These days he is pretty tight with "Mick" Mouse. Apparently, Mickey and Minnie had a few relatives Walt didn't want to talk about.

5/31/09

Good Times

We got to spend the evening with Adays this weekend. It had been way too long! We were starting to think that one or both of us were in Witness Protection!


In celebration of the dawning of summer, we snuck in a trip to the local splash park - an hour is about all our kids need.


Jackson checked out all the splashers.








And then he was on to more excitement.




Duck-riding requires ferocious concentration.




Everyone loves a good duck ride, right Brian?






Hanging out with the guys.







Giving rides to one of his favorite little ladies, Ella.



When you've been friends this long, it's quite a switch to call it a night at 8:30 (it wasn't long ago that the night started then), but we were all plenty tired.


** Update on the BBB: Jackson has been doing great in the Big Boy Bed. However, he did start Thursday off with a bang by falling out of the BBB at 3:45 AM! He's a mover, so we hear shuffling and such from his room all the time, crib or not, but this crash was a little more significant. He was stunned for a few seconds and then turned on the wail full blast. I tried to hang back so that both parents weren't rushing in and elevating things to code CRISIS. Jonathan went in and checked him out, talked to him, and put him back in bed. He went straight back to sleep. Seemed more offended that the bed bronco had bucked him off in the night than anything else. It wasn't until the next morning that we realized that he had gotten a yucky cut behind his ear. He didn't even tell us! What a trooper! Since he launched himself off of the head end, it is now relocated securely against the wall. I guess we were being a little optimistic about that.

5/23/09

B3 Weekend



Yesterday was B3-Day at our house! Big Boy Bed Day! Jackson has probably been ready to give up the crib for quite some time, but I just couldn't make the leap. He is growing up SO fast! So even though I put it off as long as I could, this weekend was selected as THE weekend for the move - just in case things went horribly a miss, there is that extra day of rest! Yesterday, Jonathan and his dad went and picked up the bed. Then my dad stopped by for a visit and helped us set up the bed. Everyone knows that when you are taking such huge strides toward manhood, it is imperative that you surround yourself with all your favorite guys! As soon as the bed was set up, Jackson was leaping in, laying down on the pillow to show us how it is done. We went through the normal bedtime routine and helped him get in the bed, half expecting that we would see him soon. He was a complete no-show. Slept all night in his big boy bed and rushed into our room at 6:30 this morning. We are so proud.

5/8/09

Molting Motorcar



The word you are looking for is SAD. Just pitiful. Xzibit called and that sweet, hot pink faux fur dash with matching seat covers could be mine if I play my cards right. In its defense, we did promise the Altima that it just had to make it through the MBA. We just didn't think it would hold us to that promise by literally falling apart. Oh, and that superior craftmanship above? That was all mine. It would only be better if I could have worked in a hairclip of some sort.