Stock Up Now

Like just about every other boy Kai's age, he loves Bakugan.  So I was excited to find out that they are on sale right now at Amazon.  

Here

and Here

They make a good present when you get a last minute birthday invitation.  So stock up.

This One's For Tamara

Michael's parents are visiting so yesterday we picked up Auntie Carol and went to the big city for real belgian gaufre and fritjes (waffles and fries) at Bruges. I had my gaufre plain and my fritjes with mayo.

It. Was. Awesome.

In fact, it was so good and I was so excited to eat it that I forgot to take a picture of it.

So Tamara, load up those day care kids and go get yourself some lunch. I'm sure their parents won't mind.

Oh just be warned if you tell him you lived in Belgium for a year he'll start talking to you in flemish and he'll keep talking to you in flemish even after you tell him it has been 12 years.

Its Enough to Make a Philosopher Cry

As I drove the kids to school this morning I was quietly singing along with the radio when the following conversation ensued between the boy and the girl.

Kai: "Mom, I heard that." He looks at Madison, "I always hear everything."
Madison: "You couldn't know that you always hear everything because if you don't hear something you won't have heard it to know that you didn't hear it."
Kai: "Well I just meant that I always hear that."
** A brief moment of silence **
Madison: "Did you hear that?"
Kai: "Well, no one ever hears you."
Madison: "If no one ever hears me, how are we having the conversation?"
Kai: "What? I didn't hear you."

For Goodness Sakes . . .

Frank is not happy about the snow. In fact, he is quite sick of it and has been swearing all morning. Okay, so the swearing is less Frank and more me. But don't think that just because he isn't swearing that he's happy about the snow-- he's just more of a saint than me . . . ha ha . . . get it?

Sorry, I've been hanging around Michael too long. Next time you see Michael ask him to tell you the joke about the elephant and the ant and you'll understand.

Anyway, I thought my in-laws would like to see how their car is doing. They are on vacation in Italy right now and left their car in our driveway until they get back-- if they come back that is. After seeing these pictures they may abandon their car and just stay in Italy.

At Least He's Into Religion

Madison had the talk in senior primary on Sunday so she and Michael were finishing up the details of her talk Sunday morning.

Kai (very excited): "Are you guys talking about Jesus?"
Maddie: "I'm working on my talk."
Kai (making and announcement to the entire kitchen): "ANYBODY WHO WANTS TO LEARN ABOUT JESUS COME TO MY ROOM AFTER CHURCH!"
Me: "Why? What's happening in your room after church?"
Kai: "We're going to learn about Jesus."
Maddie: "When he's in his room he listens to some guy on the radio talking about Jesus."
Michael: "Oh ya, didn't I tell you? He's become addicted to the religious talk shows on the AM radio."

Out With The Old

I don't think we owned any video's until last Tuesday when Chase got off the bus holding a Pokemon video and grinning like he just won the lottery.

Today Kai asked Chase if he would watch it with him and I went down to start it up. I put the video in but it wasn't at the beginning so I stopped it and hit rewind.

Kai: "Uh, what's that noise? What is it doing?"
Me: "It's rewinding so you can see it from the beginning."
Kai: "Um . . . why is it taking so long? Isn't there a faster button?"

I Am Officially Evil

This morning it's cold and rainy and I sent the boy to school with no coat while wearing a t-shirt and shorts that are too big for him. In fact he has to hold them up as he walks just to keep them from falling off.

Our morning routine has been a lot better. He has more stars on the calendar than not. But that doesn't mean that we aren't immune to the occasional bad morning and today was bad morning.

When after two timers and several warning he was still in his pajamas I told him he had 15 minutes before we left and he would be going to school in what ever state he was in. I encouraged him to hurry and even packed his bag and lunch for him. All he had to do was get dressed and get a coat. He did get dressed but spent the next 10 minutes trying to find just the right belt and coat. He couldn't find what he wanted and was unsatisfied with any of the alternatives I offered . . . so he went to school with no coat and shorts that wont stay up.

I have officially turned into the evil mother who sends her child to school in the rain with no coat. I'm pretty sure this is going to backfire like most of my discipline does.

There's no school tomorrow, it's teacher prep day or something, which is good because I think we need the weekend to regroup.

Updated to Add: I totally caved. I went and took him a pair of pants and a coat. I think that makes me even worse. Now I'm an evil mom who caves under the pressure of guilt.

I Know Hair

I still have my crimping iron from the 1980s. Are you impressed? My mom found it in bag of stuff under her bathroom sink and gave it to me to shove under my bathroom sink.

I am excited to tell you that it came in handy this weekend. Friday night Madison put one little tiny braid in the front of her hair and slept on it. She took it out Saturday morning and was thrilled with her cool frizzy lock of hair. She promptly asked me to put little tiny braids all over her head so she could sleep on them and go to school with a full head of frizzy hair. I said, "Who do you think I am? Your camp buddy?" Then I pulled out the trusty crimping iron and spent the next 20 minutes crimping her hair.


Hello gorgeous!

She was very pleased with how her frizzy hair turned out and decided she would wear something funky to go with her cool new funky hair . . . . so . . . she uh . . . chose a sweater vest. But . . . its a funky sweater vest. That is one crazy apple . . . .

She said she was getting all sorts of complements at school today. The best was when her cousin, my darling niece, said, "Her mom is REALLY good with hair. I know because she's my aunt."

Damn straight.