Pirate Jack

There have been a flurry of birthday parties among the kinders this past month and a half. Most recently the boys were invited to a pirate party so I made up a little bandanna with some 'pirate hair' and rigged up a ribbon to attach a sword to Jack's belt for a little swashbuckler look. I have been giving him blank cards to color up for the birthday kids this one is a little hard to see, but it is quite beautiful and rather in a pirate frame of mind I thought. (The card is blank with an embossed design on the cover. He used the existing design as a jumping off point for his own creation.)

I never get to mop the floor!

Jack was inconsolable about my not letting him mop the floor and after a rather dramatic "I NEVER GET TO MOP THE FLOOR!" he threw himself on the kitchen floor and pouted. (I had just let him mop the living room floor but he wanted to do the kitchen but I was cooking and I have tried mopping the kitchen floor after he mops but he gets very offended...) Anyway - nothing would cheer him up. He didn't want to go for a walk. He didn't want to watch a movie. He didn't want popcorn or pudding. He didn't want to play a game. I finally sat down with him in the kitchen and called John in. I told him to get down the markers and made a 'talking' fist at him. Here is his creation. Now, I'm not very good at making up stories, but Mom and the boys have a series of stories about two little boys Puddle and Muddle, so I asked Mom to come in and tell one of their stories while Hannah the hand puppet worked her magic. I had to tell Ma to hurry it up as Hannah started cramping hard core. My little ploy worked though - Jack was smiling and giggling until the story was over, then he went back to pouting. You can't win every match, huh?


Jack to Wyatt: Wyatt, I'm sorry I accidentally smashed your fingers, on purpose.

John was using the sawzall the other evening. Wy came up to me with his hands clamped over his ears and said "Daddy is making a pretty noise!" Then when John was done, Wy asked him "Daddy, what was that beautiful thing?"

John pulled his power drill out recently for some project and set it in the kitchen for a few days. I walked in one afternoon and found Father/Son matching drills, which made me smile. Though it does look like we might have a DeWalt/Black & Decker war starting soon. Throw in a Makita and things will really start to heat up!

Jack wants to be a painting artist, a gluing artist and a cutting artist. He would also like to be a teaching artist and teach kids how to do science.

Jack has recently taken charge of conversation at the dinner table. When he is ready to take charge, he interrupts whatever conversation is already going on with a very grown up "Mommy, tell me all about your day. What happened?" He listens very attentively to each of us and sometimes asks questions. I nearly lost it one evening when he said "Vat's interesting. Now, Daddy, tell me about your day, please."

John's John

The second Wyatt saw this he started laughing hysterically and called out "Daddy's in the toilet! He got his clothes all WET!"

Kinder Mass

The Kinders planned last Friday's all school mass. Here they are acting out the Gospel. (Jack is on the far left.)


Jack helped to bring up the Gifts - he carried the wine.


At the end of mass, the kids sang Angels Among Us by Alabama. One little girl sang a solo verse and the kids sang the chorus. Another little girl sang a verse and the kids sang the chorus again. Here is our reserved Jack standing by him self singing the last line of the song solo and a cappella.

Song for a rainy day

Budding Artist

Jack's art skills are just getting better and better!

May leak fluids

Last night Wy spent the evening in his room in direct result to a clash of wills with Mommy. He. Was. Very. Upset. And. Screaming. At. Me. In. One. Word. Sentences that could barely leave his body. Tears were streaming down his face. John finally came up to tell him that he couldn't yell at me like that. I decided to compromise a little and joined Wy in his room. I told him I was sorry he was upset and asked if he wanted a hug.

NO.

I asked if he wanted a cuddle.

NO.

I asked if he wanted me to sit with him.

NO.

I went ahead and sat down beside him and pulled him into my lap where he snuggled in and told me how upset he was. We talked. We decided to get ready for bed and do a little reading. When I came back in my pajamas, Wy was in bed and handed me a piece of paper "Mommy, read vis, pwease!"



I never thought our bed time material would include
"Battery safety information: In exceptional circumstances batteries may leak fluids that can cause a chemical burn injury or ruin your toy (product). To avoid battery leakage..."

Wyatt cuddled up to me and petted my hair while I read. He settled down and was asleep by the time I got to "Proect the environment by not disposing of this product with household waste (2002/96.EC). check your local authourity for recycling advice and facilities (Europe only). T9037"

You heard that?

The boys and I were in church this morning. During the Gospel Wy started holding up his arms to me and making little mewling noises. I picked him up and held him so he was straddling my waist. He hugged me tight. I hugged him tight right back. He hugged me tighter. I hugged him back and we swayed a little. Then he started digging around in his crotch. I quietly asked him if he needed to go potty. He not so quietly said back to me "No! You are hurting my peee-nis!" I immediately put him down. The couple in the row behind us completely lost their composure. I saw them holding onto each other and the pew in order to be able to stand. There they stood, shaking with laughter. The man and his wife eventually had to sit down because they just couldn't recover. Then other folks behind us couldn't keep up with their desperate attempts at not laughing. The back 4 rows were full of snorts, odd gasps and weird grunts...You know those indescribable noises people make when their attempts at not laughing end in indescribable noises?
Yeah. That was us.
I was mortified after church when I talked to some friends of ours: I said "You heard that?" and he replied "WHO DIDN'T?"

A Pocket Guide

When I got home after the show Friday night, John and the boys were already upstairs reading their bedtime stories. I didn't want to get the boys riled up by popping my head into their room so I stopped at the bottom of the stairs to listen for a moment. John was reading in his quiet go-to-sleep voice:

"Do not use a tourniquet. If tied too tight, it may cause the loss of a limb.
Do not make cuts through or near the site of the bite.
Do not try to suck venom from the site of the bite. You might have a tooth cavity or gum sore and this would place venom into that wound.
Do not allow anyone, including a physician, to administer antivenin to you UNLESS you have FIRST been tested to determine whether or not you are allergic to antivenin."

It was hysterical to me that John added THE END but I lost it when I heard Jack mumble FANK YOU, DADDY.

WHAT in God's name were they reading you ask? Well, a few weeks ago our house manager found a little booklet in the theatre after one of our performances. He gave it to me thinking the boys might be interested in the material. I wasn't sure if the boys would like it or not, but I figured they ARE boys...so I brought home A Pocket Guide to Kansas Snakes



You might say that the boys (mostly Jack) being interested in the material is an understatement. He SLEEPS with this book.

We have learned from this book "There are about 2,718 species of snakes worldwide with 141 found in the United States. Kansas has 38 species of snakes and they are the most diverse group of reptiles in our state." And our little Pocket Guide covers all the Kansas snakes! Each page in the booklet describes one kind of snake. You learn their common name, their Latin name, their size, area they occupy, a description and their habits - including how many offspring they produce. Did you know that if snakes lay eggs that the batch of eggs is called a clutch? Who knew? And if snakes produce live offspring they are called a liter. (See sample pages below.)



Did you know

"*Snakes don't swallow their young to protect them during times of danger (acids in a snake belly would quickly kill and digest the young.
*Snakes don't milk cows (snake teeth are very sharp and cows won't stand for it).
*Snake tongues are not stingers (They do, however, tickle).
*Snakes cannot crawl faster than a person can walk (it just seems that way to someone adrenaline-driven individuals when they unexpectedly encounter one of these reptiles).
*Snakes will cross a horsehair rope (back and forth as many times as they like)."

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All images and quotes taken from:
A Pocket Guide to Kansas Snakes Text by Joseph T. Collins & Suzanne L. Collins Photos by Suzanne L. Collins & Bob Gress. Funded by Westar Energy Green Team and the Chickadee Checkoff. Published by the Friends of the Great Plains Nature Center. 2006

Red car

Wy started out scouring the house for all our Lightning McQueen cars. He gave up and begain to include any red vehicle he could get his hands on. I did not get to see the full line up as I was headed to work, but I hear it was quite a string of cars and trains.

He was chanting his own little made up song when I left -
Red car! Red car! When you see a red car!

This has grown to be about nearly anything:
Blue sign! Blue sign! When you see a blue sign!
White truck! White truck! When you see a white truck!
Brown tree! Brown tree! When you see a brown tree!

Huey

Jack spent a Sunday with me at the show a few weekends ago. On our way home John said we should swing by the grocery store for a surprise. I didn't say anything to Jack other than "Daddy asked us to stop by the grocery store." Jack asked what we were getting for Daddy. I told him "You'll see when we get there." In the parking lot was this helicopter. Jack was very excited when the Vets let us climb up inside. This helicopter served time in Vietnam and the gentlemen pointed out bullet holes to us and answered Jack's questions.



When we were done looking at the helicopter we got in the car and started heading home. Jack reminded me that we still had to pick up something for Daddy. I told him that the helicopter was why we went to the grocery store. Then there was a terrible silence. I looked in the mirror and Jack was crying. I asked him what was wrong and he said "You lied to me."
Wow. When you look at it, I had led him to believe we were going to buy something for his dad and we really only went to see the Huey. I was at a loss for what to say. I apologized and told him I had taken him there because I wanted to make him happy by seeing the helicopter. He blasted me with "You took my happiness away because you lied to me." What do you say to that other than "I'm sorry."?