Such is a Boy

This week we’ve had ear infections, pink eye and strep throat at our house and with that comes a lot of medicine and a lot more medicine droppers that we will never use to administer it.  (I’m sure I’m not the only one with a medicine closet full of those)  Mr. President got a little child size syringe with his medicine that we are not using and so I told Go Go they could use it to play doctor with like it was a shot.  He gleefully said, “Cool, we can use it as a gun!”  Sigh.  Such is a boy.

Then a few minutes later Blue Jeans came down stairs in his frog shirt with a baseball hat on, clutching his blue blanket, a teddy bear, a toy snake and a sword.  Such is a boy.

And while we’re on the subject of guns, as I write this, Mr. President (home from school and “deathly ill” with strep throat) started shooting his dart gun suction darts at my front living room window.  Let me tell you the story about dart guns and that window.  The dart guns were a gift from Santa.  The darts, which they used to cover my front window with for about 2 weeks straight, left nice little circular spots on the window which we’ll just say doesn’t add to the ambiance of the room.  Between pregnancy and the fact that this is a rental, I’ve been lazy and haven’t cleaned off the dart marks until just last week.  Can someone PLEASE tell me (because Mr. President can’t, I already asked him) WHY he had to wait to shoot the window again until now that it’s been cleaned?  The window sat perfectly unmolested from January until now with dart marks galore.  And now, NOW that I have clean windows again, they decide to shoot at them.  Can someone please explain this to me?  I really don’t get it! 
I know, I know…
Such is a boy.

Our Lego Kid

Go Go LOVES Legos.  He can build the most amazing things.  Whenever one of our very detailed Star Wars Lego ships breaks (which is just about every day) he puts it back together without the directions!  Here’s something fun he did the other day.

I should also add that you know you’re a mother of boys when 1. you can’t walk two feet in your house without stepping on or seeing a Lego and 2. you spend a good portion of every day listening to someone regale you with the ins and outs and abilities of the latest ship/machine/car he built with Legos.  These explanations can last up to 3 minutes sometimes.  It tests the bounds of parental interest, trust me.

Only in Danger from Mom This Time

I am giving a baby shower here at our home in a few days and have my work cut out for me trying to get rid of the stains on this white rental home carpet we live on. So just to add a little more spice to my life, this morning Blue Jeans got a hold of the 409 spray and decided to “help” by spraying, soaking actually, my two nice living room chairs. Soaked the cushions through and sprayed the green spray (I never knew it was green until this morning when it showed up on my carpet) all over the living room floor. Now my house smells like 409, and when my guests sit on the chairs their rear ends will smell like 409. Yes, 409 is a dangerous substance, that fits very nicely in BJ's ever expanding repertoire of ways to kill himself, but Blue Jeans was in more danger from his mother this morning then anything else.

Favorite Quotes and Happenings of Late

Upon coming home from school and being asked to do his chores Go Go said, “Mom, I’m just too tired from school and I can’t do them. Can you do them for me?” Kindergarten is indeed a killer.

Blue Jeans refuses to walk down the stairs without a parent if he’s going down at the same time. “Yait, Mom! Yait!” Next to “Chewbacca” it’s my favorite thing he says.

The Lost Tooth count is up to 5 for Mr. President


2 for Go Go


Zero (thank goodness-though I’m not holding my breath) for Blue Jeans who wanted his picture taken too.


In other news, Go Go started T-ball. He’s on the Yankees team and though his father cries into his pillow every night that his boys are becoming baseball fans instead of soccer fans, it is nevertheless true. Out here this close to New York, boys are born knowing how to throw a baseball. The difference between Mr. President’s T-ball team in Duvall of Microsofty offspring and Go Go’s team here in Jersey is striking--no pun intended! These kids start off knowing which way to run the bases, how to throw the ball to first base and even how to catch the ball! The same could not be said for our little Duvall league.

Move over Derek Jeter…..

Mr. President got to have his Half Birthday Date into the city with Mom and Dad a few weeks ago. He chose the Times Square Toys R Us too. (No boy with a brain in his head would miss a chance at a cheap toy!) And lucky for us, our terrorist friend from Pakistan decided to wait two weeks before trying to blow up Times Square. I’m trying not to think about it too much.

That’s what’s new with us!

How Can I Kill Myself, Let me Count the Ways

Our Blue Jeans is somethin else. Though other people may have run into this kind of thing with their children, he’s the first adventurer of the bunch here at our house. And hopefully the last. Apparently he takes after his Grandpa who liked to climb up in the rafters of the garage when very small. As I said, this is probably very tame for many a mother out there, but it’s new to me.
In the last two weeks here are the ways that Blue Jeans has tried to kill himself:
1. Got into mom’s purse (after climbing up to the top shelf of the bookshelf to get it) and pulled out brother’s EPI pen (ie. really big needle), opened it and was trying to figure out how it worked when he was discovered.
2. Pushed a chair over to the stove and turned on the stove top burners. (Stove knobs are now removed-not something you’d think would need to be done on an old fashioned stove where the knobs are on top and not in front of the counter)
3. Climbed up on his brother’s dresser while all three drawers were open and had it fall over on top of him. Luckily there was not even a scratch on him, but Mom just about went into labor running up the stairs and pulling the very heavy dresser off of him.
4. Ran outside twice when brothers left the doors open and headed for the 40 mph road we live on which is more like a 50 mph road. We are in the process of learning road safety, but have not mastered it yet. And by the way, the doors are all baby proofed, just not brother proofed.
5. Got a sharp knife down from the counter and stuck it in his mouth. Luckily, Dad caught him after only minor damage had been done.
6. Snuck a second granola bar and tried to open it with the kitchen shears. When Dad caught him Blue Jeans threw the scissors across the room as if to absolve himself of all responsibility. Amazingly, no one else was hurt during the incident.
Unfortunately, it’s really hard to be mad at a kid who can’t even say his own name, but thanks to his older brothers can say “Chewbacca” with perfect clarity.

Look fast, he might not be with us long.

Spring Break 2010-Big Boats and Big Parks

Last week was Spring break for our boys and so we took the chance to play in New York City for a day.  It was one of those mostly perfect days you get only every once in a while.  The weather is sunny and not too hot.  Nobody fights or yells or cries or whines-not one meltdown.  No dirty diapers to change while on the road.  Everybody likes the food AND the activities.  No missed trains, or long lines.  Everyone was happy and pleasant for the most part.  A Good Memory making day.
The train ride in was very pleasant indeed…..
 
thanks to two cell phones and a Leapster, that is!  What a joy modern technology is!
Once into the city we took our first Cab ever.  You should have seen the cab driver’s face when Rock told him that to make room in the back for the rest of us he was going to sit in the front with him (something rarely done, but something riders have a full and complete right to do).  And we only had to ask one child to stop kicking the cab driver’s seat.  The cab took us (as quickly as he could I’m sure) to the Intrepid, a huge air craft carrier turned flight and space museum. 
 
On board we saw lots of airplanes and watched a few movies about the war history of this big boat.  Mr. President had a difficult time coming to terms with the idea of Kamikaze pilots-two of which killed 69 crew members and almost destroyed the boat in WW II.  “Why would they do that?!  That’s just STUPID!”  As usual, Go Go took the news in stride marveling at the thought of planes on fire and ships under attack. 



On the top/flight deck with New York City in the background.


The submarine (and missile) that “we” weren’t tall enough to go inside quite yet.

After the Intrepid we went to the temple to show the boys.  They spotted the Angel Moroni right away. 


Mr. President really wanted to “explore New York City” so we said, “Let’s wander this way and see what we find!” We then “explored” our way down the street you see behind them to the trees you see in the background and lo and behold, there was Central Park!  Amazing what you can find when you explore New York City!  The boys were instantly in heaven.  This park is the park to end all parks.  It is 840 acres, and has a castle, a carousel, 2 zoos, 3 ponds and and 2 lakes, a skating rink, 2 museums (Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Natural History), 18 playgrounds (yes you read that right) and BIG huge rocks all over for kids to climb till their heart’s content.  That’s not even all there is!  And it is absolutely beautiful besides all that! 
Here’s an aerial view to give you an idea of the size of it. 

The leaves are just coming out and it was a picture perfect day to play in the park!





 
One of the things that helped us decide to move here to the East was this park.  Our goal is to bring the boys out once a month!  There’s so much to do, we’ll never even scratch the surface!  Can’t wait to go back!

Plastic Flowers and a Golf Club

Excuse me while I share a proud mom moment.  The boys have been begging me to take them to the Dollar store to spend tooth fairy and allowance money that’s been burning a hole in their wallets.  So today we ventured out to the Dollar Tree.  On the drive we discussed (again) the value of dollar store toys.  “Do dollar store toys last very long?” “No!” they answered.  “What are you going to do if your toy breaks before you even get it in the house?” (something that has happened to us before) “Not cry!” they chimed together.  We keep talking about the better toys they can get if they save their money and occasionally they listen.  We’re hoping they learn the “you get what you pay for” lesson now on cheap toys rather than later  when they are teens and adults.  But arrive we did and they marched their happy little selves into their version of heaven on earth (Toys R Us they can afford)
As they wandered the store perusing the aisles of cheap, brightly colored plastic, I reminded Mr. President, who was spending his allowance, that if he spent it all today he wouldn’t get any more for a whole month.  He of course wanted to spend it all anyway and put his 4 dollars worth of toys in his cart. Again, more money lessons we hope they learn with their little allowance before their big paychecks.  Go Go put in his 2 dollars worth as well, but then as he passed a little golf club and ball he exclaimed, “Blue Jeans would LOVE this!”  Without even thinking twice he put one of his toys back and put the golf club in for Blue Jeans.  When I gave him a teary hug and told him how proud I was of him for choosing to be like Jesus and share his money, big brother was listening.  One of Mr. President’s toys went back on the shelf and I was then presented with a bouquet of white fake flowers.  I thanked him too for his thoughtful gift and we made our way to the cash register.  I tried hard not to blubber on the cashier when she told them how wonderful she thought it was that they had thought of others when spending their money.  I walked away from the store bursting with gratitude that sometimes, our lessons do get through to them.  And the plastic flowers will be a crowning addition to my decor Forever.