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Hardwood floors can make for freezing tootsies, which has led to one of my favorite impromptu morning rituals. Grant snuggles up close and thaws his icy toes on my coffee mug. It wasn't exactly an easy thing to get a picture of, because he's squeezed in beside me, and there's much wiggling involved to keep from burning his toes. It's one of those happy little things I'll be missing in a year or two!
Pie for supper sounds great, doesn't it? My kids think so. They alway get so excited at dinnertime when they see me preparing one of their favorites, Cheeseburger Pie. This is NOT the healthiest dish in my repertoire, but I'm sharing it with you anyway because it's super easy to make, and even Grayson, my pickiest eater loves it. I also forgot to take a picture, so you'll just have to use your imagination.
Okay, here's what you need:
That's all there is to it. This is a great dish to make on nights when you don't feel like making something elaborate, and if you keep meat in the freezer like I do, you can keep the ingredients on hand at all times.
We took the boys to see Horton Hears a Who last night. I was shocked. Hollywood actually made a Dr. Seuss book into a movie that is appropriate for children! Can you believe it? Even with all the former SNL stars voicing characters, there were no off color remarks that leave parents cringing. They managed to make a funny, interesting animated film and keep it kindergarten.
So, anyway, if you can still hear me from way up here on my soapbox, I'll share the Horton Hears a Who craft we made this morning. It's so easy, it barely qualifies as a craft, really, but they haven't left the boys hands since we made them. All we did was raid our craft shelf for green pipe cleaners, big purple puff balls, and tiny bits of cotton ball. We placed the puff in the middle of our pipe cleaner, which we then folded in half, and twisted the two sides together. We tore off a teeny bit of the cotton ball and glued it to the top of the puff ball, and TA-DA! A Who-clover.
Oh yeah, I forgot they're chenille stems now, not pipe cleaners. How 1980's of me.
Friday afternoon, the kids and I were over at my mom and dad's enjoying the pretty day. My parents weren't there at the moment, so I was just sitting in a rocking chair, talking with my nephew, watching Grayson play in the treehouse and Grant run in circles all over the yard. I had to run inside to look for something, and as I went in the door, I said, "Hey Kyle, make sure my kids don't kill themselves while I'm inside, okay?" chuckle, chuckle.
I had been inside all of one minute when those words flew right back and hit me in the face. Okay, so no one killed themselves, but all of a sudden I heard Grant crying. Not whimpering, but that loud terrible cry when after the initial wail, it takes a full minute to get a breath and start again. I ran back to the door where Kyle was sprinting to meet me with Grant, saying "Uh oh, uh oh!" over and over.
Turns out, on one of his wild rotations around the yard, the toe of his shoe hit the sidewalk, and he face planted on the concrete. You can't tell from the picture, but his whole nose ended up a purplish hue, his lip was about three times normal size, and because he was crying and his nose was running, he kept aggravating the scrape under his nose.
He is so tough though! He cried hard for about a minute, snuggled with me and Bears for five, and then was up and running all over again!
Jeff and I got new bedroom furniture last weekend, and apparently it took Grant until this morning to notice our headboard.
Grant: What dis thing is?
Me, trying to wake up: What thing?
Grant: What dis thing dat gots a bed on it?
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Grant: Where Mickey lives?
Me: Mickey lives at Disney World. We're going there at Christmastime.
Grant: Oh! Yeah! Yay! Come on, Bubba, we goin' to Dinney Wahrd!
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Grant: I two years old. Bubba's free years old.
Me: No, Bubba's six years old.
Grant: Oh, I six years old too! I going to pinabardum (kindergarten) like Bubba. I Bi-i-i-ig!
Are you tired of seeing paintings of my boys yet? That's too bad. You have to see at least two more. This one is to hang over Grayson's bed, and I'll be doing one the same size of Grant to go over his new "big boy bed" he got this weekend. Then there will be one more for my mother in law of all three of her grandboys, but after that NO MORE!
Tonight when Jeff gets off work, we're giving Copper over to his new owner. I know Grayson will be sad for a little while. He feels things very deeply, and there will be tears. Grant may not understand what has happened for a couple of days. I think he'll be confused when we pack up all Copper's stuff to go see Daddy at work, and even more so when we load him up into a stranger's car and say goodbye. I can't believe I'm teary as I write this... I am so eager to get rid of him, and for some reason I still feel melancholy. I guess I feel much like a failure for not training him better or for not taking time or having patience with him. I guess no amount of time spent with him could have changed the fact that he gets on my last nerve, though.
So, y'all think of my boys today. Their little emotions are in for a rough ride.
vMy mom and dad have the perfect backyard for kids. I've told you about it before, I know. This weekend Mom had a brainstorm to make it even better. See, they have an arbor that used to have really sour grapes growing on it, but that has been totally useless for a couple of years now. The boys were always climbing on it and hanging off it and stuff.
So, Mom came up with a great idea. Why not add a floor and a ladder and make the thing into a sort of clubhouse? She got my carpenter brother involved and what they came up with is the perfect play structure for the boys!
They spent nearly the whole weekend in their "treehouse" playing Spiderwick, pirates, taking naps, and having picnic lunches. I love that the whole project cost my mom a box of nails and that was it. She (for some odd reason) had a bunch of spare lumber that they used for the floor and ladder. I also love that my brother built it and got to experience the grateful hugs and squeals of his nephews when they saw it.
For the past few weeks, Grayson and I have been reading the Spiderwick Chronicles for his bedtime stories. He LOVES them so much! The hero of the series is Jared Grace who has a twin brother named Simon. If you don't know, these books are chocked full of all things faerie: good creatures like sprites and brownies, bad creatures like goblins and ogres. We just started book four of five, and Grayson's imagination has been set on fire!
He and Grant call each other Jared and Simon about 60% of the time now, and they spend all their outdoor play time fighting goblins and meeting with elves and sprites. Grayson has made his own Field Guide of fantastical creatures with wonderful illustrations.
I have never seen a child as enthralled with a story as Grayson is with this one. I love how his imagination is so vivid that in his mind he is Jared Grace, and there really are fantastical creatures all around us. I wish so much for him to stay this way as long as possible. I know he has to grow up one day, but not yet...
