Oh me, Oh my, OMA!

Today is my mom's (and my children's Oma's) birthday! I wish wish wish we were there to celebrate with her. I know if we were, though, she would focus less on her and more on us, so this way hopefully she can really celebrate her special day. Just a few thoughts on what makes her special...

Owen likes her back scratches and snuggles.
Henry says "WHAT!!??" and then that he likes her costumes.
Aidan likes her cinnamon rolls.

I like all those things too! Thanks, mom, for always taking my calls. Some days I don't know where I'd be without them. You raised me right and gave me wings, but I still need to talk to mom!

Now mom, go have dad dress up in a costume, give you a back scratch and make you some cinnamon rolls.

We love you!

1st Badge and other events

Aidan got his 1st Cub Scout badge tonight. He seemed pretty neutral about the whole thing, actually. He was waaaaaay more excited about building a Lego Santa. When he finished, he followed me around in his anxious way. "Mom? Do you think Santa will steal him?" I reassured him that Santa was not a thief, but that was not enough. I must have heard the same question three more times. Finally I said, "What kind of guy do you think Santa is? He brings presents, he doesn't go around the house stealing things."

It really is a very cool Lego Santa. Maybe someday I'll figure out how to move images from my camera to this computer and you all can see for yourselves.

It's a very exclusive club

Owen was overcome with emotion today while he was coloring. "Mom, this is my BEST day. I love to color," he said while coloring a poster-sized image of Ahsoka and R3. "I'm going to start a coloring club. To be in it, you have to like to color. And you have to like me."

Not ok

From a young age, we worked with the boys on apologizing and accepting apologies. We may not have worked hard enough on the acceptance part.

Scene 1:
Aidan and Owen, in the front yard playing football. Aidan tackles Owen with too much force, Owen crumples. Owen's sobs get louder and louder; Aidan's grin doesn't subside. I finally intervene. First I hug Owen, then I pull Aidan close. I make him apologize, and I explain to Owen that this is football, albeit from now on one-hand touch football. They have to "hug it out" and Aidan says he's sorry. Owen's response? "It's not ok."

Scene 2:
A few minutes later, still in the front yard. Aidan decides to roll down the hill. Owen decides to do the same. Of course, OF COURSE, they crash into each other. Owen was more to blame, so I tell him he needs to apologize. Aidan's response? "It's not ok."

Scene 3:
Bedtime with Henry. He's giving me 100 kisses, and I brush some hair out of my face. I accidentally scrape Henry's cheek in the process. "Sorry," I say. Henry's response? "It's not ok." But he continues with the kisses.

Silly boys. They really don't harbor grudges, despite how it sounds.

Bad mama

Who: Henry D, talking (shouting) to me.
When: 12:30 A.M.
Where: Upstairs

Henry stumbled out of bed the other night, crying and shouting. I ran to him and scooped him up. He yelled at me, "Why you leave me in that room!!" Poor baby had a nightmare.

Then I slept with him the rest of the night.

This and that

Aidan's fear of weather has subsided over the past few weeks. In fact, he's been discussing barometric pressure with us, and seems calmed by the fact that there is a scientific way to prove the weather will, in fact, be safe. He gave a presentation to his class about different forms of moisture, and about barometric pressure. Who knows? Maybe a little additional knowledge was helpful in this case. It's not always the case, though. He won't even acknowledge the existence of his own ear wax, he's so squeamish about anything related to the body. More knowledge does not seem to reassure him there.

I took Henry to his church program yesterday, and as I was signing him in, he danced into the room. Really. He pranced on his toes, wiggled his hips side to side, and raised his arms above his head. No clingy goodbyes from him. He seems really happy there, and I love hearing about the friends he's making. He's so good with their names...better than I am, I think.

After I dropped Henry off, Owen and I had a few hours before he had to go to school. We went to Kohl's and Target in search of the perfect Christmas ornament for Owen. He was determined to get one yesterday. Why? No idea. He thought he wanted an ornament from Kohl's that was the earth, but decided to check out the options at Target before fully committing. So we went to my second home, and sure enough, he found an ornament he liked there. It's a Nascar car. His choice is intriguing, as we don't watch racing. I didn't have any expectations, though, since Owen is full of surprises. It was really nice just hanging out with him.

I feel like I haven't been home much the past two days. Yesterday was a fun day, but I was gone a lot, and today I have my early childhood committee meetings. Those are fun too, but I'm hoping to be around a little more tomorrow.

NaBloPoMo is kicking my butt

So let's see. Friday night we took the boys to a new hot dog place a few miles from our house. When we were in South Carolina this past summer, we ate at this place, and we all liked it so much that we had to eat there three more times during our one-week stay. Well, the place near our house didn't really compare, so we won't need to go back there three times in the next week.

Not only do I feel like I do way too much laundry, I also feel like I grocery shop way too much. So I had everyone come with me on a Friday night and we loaded up the cart together. Can you get enough of this excitement??

Yesterday we had friends over for dinner, and getting ready was an all day event. Well, not really. Andy took Oce to a friend's house for part of the day, and then he and Aidan did more birthday returns and shopping. I did get an outdoor run in, because I do believe it may be possible to fall asleep while running on the treadmill. Running outside is waaaaay better. The boys did help with cleanup, and for now at least, we have an organized basement. Will it stay that way until Santa comes? Stay tuned!

Our dinner was a success...funny to me though is that we have to have people come over at 4:00 so everybody can go home by 7:30. But everybody ate, some people ate more, we had fun conversations, and the meltdowns didn't start until the evening was almost over. Success! On tap for today is football and maybe a little shopping. Oh, and I have gotten a request for chex mix. Should be a mellow, fun day.

Yo mama...

I took Owen and his friend E to the bus at noon. When we got to the bus stop, the air reeked of cow poop, which is not a normal occurrence. The boys decided it really was dog poop that they smelled. I yelled "Bye boys!" from across the street, and E responded by saying, "Bye dog poop!" I didn't really think anything of it, but it really pissed Owen off. He shoved E, hard, and gave him a really nasty look. Then he looked at me with this combination of still being angry and something else... almost like he wished I hadn't had to hear that.

Better not talk bad about Owen's mama.

Soon he'll have a starring role in The Big Lebowski part II

Owen was discussing his bowling prowess. "Mom, did you know? One time I knocked down eight pins and then the ninth pin fell over because it fainted from my awesomeness."

So long ago

Aidan was reading a book about dinosaurs last night. He asked me, "Mom, can you believe dinosaurs were alive 65 million years ago?' I said no, that that amount of time is difficult to comprehend. He agreed. "Yeah, because I thought they were alive, like, 300 years ago."

Good times

Good times were had by the boys today. I took Owen and Henry to an indoor playpark this morning, where we met some old friends and some new ones. The boys played hard for about an hour and a half. Then Oce went off to school, Henry took a nap, I did paperwork, SIX loads of laundry (generated in just! two! days!), cleaned out our planters on the front step, and just an enormous amount of other housework. After school Aidan had a friend over. Poor Ace is still getting over his cold. He and his friend played so well, but so physically! Aidan wanted to snuggle me tonight, and he wanted to go to bed at 7:15. I hope he feels refreshed in the morning.

Owen is currently working on a packet of homework that his kindergarten teacher thinks will help him with hand strength. There is lots of coloring and cutting and matching of shapes and finding your way through mazes in this packet. If he's in the right frame of mind (i.e. not grumpy), he gets really focused on his work. He is definitely proud of what he's done so far.

Today Henry followed me upstairs while I was folding laundry. He got in my room about three seconds after I did, but I still greeted him with a "Hi, big boy!" to which he responded, "Hi, little mama!"

Dear Oma and Ompa, did you know

That Aidan so loves that teddy bear blanket that shows grandma bear giving baby bear a hug that he insists on sleeping with it every night? And not just sleeping with it. It has to be the layer closest to his body. No sheets! Give me the blankie!

No? You didn't know? Well now you do.

The weekend

This weekend was a total blur. And the thing is, we didn't do anything! Aidan had a slight fever (which I think is going to end up being just a bad head cold) and we all just stayed around home. Yesterday Owen did have some friends over; twin boys who live in our neighborhood. He had been waiting for SO LONG to have a playdate with them. They all had fun.

Today we all stayed near home again. I went and got Tori this afternoon and we had a turkey dinner, which was delicious. But a ton of work. We did have a moment of worry when Andy was carving the turkey...the mysterious bag of giblets was found. Dag nabbit, I cooked them in the turkey. I have no idea where they were hiding when Andy and I both looked for them before we put the turkey in the oven. We also watched Ice Age 3. That movie got chuckles from all of us. It was actually quite cute.

Henry D has been coming in our room for several nights now. He wakes up and just decides he's had enough of being by himself. Most nights I'm so tired I don't even know when he came in. But last night I was more awake, and knew that it was only 12:30!! So he's basically sleeping the whole night with us. I ended up leaving and sleeping in his bed last night. Musical beds around the household.

I hope Ace feels better tomorrow. But if not, we'll play games, read, and watch TV. Not a bad way to spend my day.

Friday Fun

Well, Friday was funner for some of us than others. Baby Bird woke up with a fever, and was all out of sorts (crabby and veeery sensitive) until Andy figured out what was going on. We spent the morning in our pj's, playing video games, reading, and snuggling. Owen did a great job of taking care of Henry while I took care of Aidan. They played trains together, snuggled each other, and took turns on the Wii. Owen got to go to school, which was good for him, because he loves school. Today was extra special...it was Fun Friday! Owen's teacher let them watch an Arthur movie, eat popcorn and drink chocolate milk.

I felt bad for Aidan today, but he was really sweet. I got lots of snuggle time with him, and game playing time, and even a little bit of nap time. I took him to Target late in the afternoon and he bought another Lego set with his birthday money. He worked on it diligently until it was finished a few hours later. This one is a tall robot with light-up fire coming out of its mouth.

Owen practiced reading tonight with Andy...and he did great! He was reading all kinds of new words by sounding things out. He has been reading books that he brings home from his classroom, but this book was one of ours.

Henry D had a quiet day. I was feeling sad earlier this morning, missing my family in Iowa, and he yelled at me to get happy. Everything really is all about him. He did fall asleep on Andy last night, which Andy really thought was super sweet.

Looks like it will be a quiet weekend, but a really nice one as far as the weather is concerned. We shall see what we make of it.

NaBloPoMo

Or something like that. It's November, also known as National Blog Posting Month, also known as "post every day during the month of November." So here I go. Four days late.

We had a fun weekend with Oma, Ompa and Tori here to celebrate Aidan's birthday as well as Halloween. Aidan enjoyed opening ALL of his presents (for which we are slowly working on thank you notes) and building dozens (or so it seemed) of new Lego sets. We had cupcakes with Lego logos on them, but Aidan didn't eat any!! He shares his dad's lack of a sweet tooth.

For Halloween, Henry was a dinosaur, Aidan a storm trooper, and Owen a clone trooper. Henry clearly didn't know what was going on. As we left our house, he scooped up a bunch of candy from our bowl. When we got to our neighbor's, he tried to hand them candy as he said "Trick or treat!" So funny. Daddy ended up taking the bigger boys around the whole block while Henry, Ompa and I stayed on our street.

Sunday was Aidan's birthday. He opened our gifts and then in the afternoon, we had an enormous kid party at the nature center nearby. We had a sunny and moderately warm day for it. I made a cake (with help from Tori and my mom) in the shape of a fort. It turned out really well, and was a hit with all the kids. We hiked and had smores at the party, and played games and yes, opened more presents. It's Thursday, and he still hasn't played with all his new stuff.