Overdesplode (oh-ver de-splohd) -verb:
Word derived (sort of) from the English language. Used soley by my five-year-old son. Has a variety of meanings. When something falls apart in a dramatic way, it has overdesploded. When there is a particularly bad train crash in the family room, something certainly has overdesploded. When TJ knocks every single Duplo block he owns on the floor, you guessed it....overdesplode. When there is a fire, or an explosion, or bad weather on television, likely TJ will realize that something will overdesplode.
Sometimes TJ uses it as a defense when I ask him to pick up something. "But Mama! It overdesploded!" Yeah, all the more reason to pick it up!
TJ likes drama, and he's really into using adjectives and verbs, even if he made them up. This word in particular makes very little sense, but TJ uses it so often, I only notice it now when Bill teases him about it.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Hats
A few weeks ago, Bill and I were at a Whitecaps game, where we were given free hats from Hansen Collision (they had given us free tickets to the game). I figured the hats would wind up confined to the toy box. I put my hat on a few times, but Bill repeatedly commented that I "wasn't a hat person". I believe that translates into, "You look like an idiot." So we got home, I threw the two hats in the toy box, and forgot about them.
Then my boys discovered the hats. They LOVED them. The problem was, there are 3 boys and 2 hats. Yes, Nolan wanted one too! So my wonderful mom gave him a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hat that says "Cowabunga" on it. Oh, good. So now all three of them can look ridiculous and happy together.
Then my boys discovered the hats. They LOVED them. The problem was, there are 3 boys and 2 hats. Yes, Nolan wanted one too! So my wonderful mom gave him a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hat that says "Cowabunga" on it. Oh, good. So now all three of them can look ridiculous and happy together.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Frozen cookies and the weather channel
Wednesday night, Sam, Nolan, and I had dinner at my parent's house (TJ was off on an adventure with Grandma Cindy). After dinner, Sam requested a cookie for dessert. My mom pulled a tin out of the freezer. I have never thought twice about this...my mom bakes, and puts all the cookies in tins in the freezer. When we want a cookie, we pull out a tin and eat the cookie frozen. I kinda like frozen chocolate chip cookies. But now I'm wondering if anyone else freezes their cookies...
Anyway, Sam crunched on his cookie and went off to play. I took a cookie and was shocked at how hard it was. Her deep freezer must have just been running, or something. I have no idea how Sam managed to eat his. I had a hard time breaking off a few small pieces for Nolan to eat. My mom also took a cookie. She was holding it with her lips while she balanced Nolan on her hip and tried to close the cookie tin (to return it to the freezer, of course). Quick as a wink, Nolan snatched the cookie out of her mouth and stuffed it in his own. And...nothing happened. It was so frozen, he couldn't even bit off the tiniest bit. The look of shock and confusion on his face was priceless. Before the tears filling his eyes could even roll down his cheeks, my mom took the cookie back and broke a piece off for him. Crisis averted, but it sure was funny!
TJ is back on his weather channel kick. He watches WOOD TV's weather channel (8-3). It's just the NOAA weather recording, which repeats every 5 minutes or so, and the radar is on a loop. I can handle listening to it for exactly five minutes. But TJ will watch it for an hour at a time! It drives me nuts! And then he repeats phrases, but doesn't always understand what they are talking about. "Mama, water spouts are coming! They are dangerous!" "Mama, spotter activation will not be necessary tonight! Oh no!"
He also told me that he wants to be a weather man someday, but he has to wait for one of the current weather men to die. I tried explaining retirement to him, but he has it is in head that you report the weather until you drop dead. Then the station hires someone new. I wonder if Bill Steffen knows about this.
Anyway, Sam crunched on his cookie and went off to play. I took a cookie and was shocked at how hard it was. Her deep freezer must have just been running, or something. I have no idea how Sam managed to eat his. I had a hard time breaking off a few small pieces for Nolan to eat. My mom also took a cookie. She was holding it with her lips while she balanced Nolan on her hip and tried to close the cookie tin (to return it to the freezer, of course). Quick as a wink, Nolan snatched the cookie out of her mouth and stuffed it in his own. And...nothing happened. It was so frozen, he couldn't even bit off the tiniest bit. The look of shock and confusion on his face was priceless. Before the tears filling his eyes could even roll down his cheeks, my mom took the cookie back and broke a piece off for him. Crisis averted, but it sure was funny!
TJ is back on his weather channel kick. He watches WOOD TV's weather channel (8-3). It's just the NOAA weather recording, which repeats every 5 minutes or so, and the radar is on a loop. I can handle listening to it for exactly five minutes. But TJ will watch it for an hour at a time! It drives me nuts! And then he repeats phrases, but doesn't always understand what they are talking about. "Mama, water spouts are coming! They are dangerous!" "Mama, spotter activation will not be necessary tonight! Oh no!"
He also told me that he wants to be a weather man someday, but he has to wait for one of the current weather men to die. I tried explaining retirement to him, but he has it is in head that you report the weather until you drop dead. Then the station hires someone new. I wonder if Bill Steffen knows about this.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Being a single parent
Bill is gone for the week. He had an opportunity to do a one-week contract position in Louisville, Kentucky, so of course, he jumped on it. A former boss recommended him for the position. Bill is actually trying to get a job at the same place where this former boss works, so he knew this was an opportunity to make an impression with those people.
I hate it when he's gone. It's not that I can handle the kids...I can do that. It's not that I'm afraid to be alone at night...that doesn't bother me. It's not the extra work...I can keep up with that, as long as the lawn doesn't need to be mowed. I just hate how quiet it is. The only people I talked to all day were my children. There is no adult interaction. No one to laugh with me at the funny things they say. No one to wonder what I'm up to today. No one to give me a five-minute sanity break. It was noisy here all day, but I'm still lonely.
I think back to my childhood, and my Dad was gone often. Sometimes he was gone for months on end. To this day, I still do not know how my Mom did it...and she had 2 more kids to cope with than I did!
This will all be worth it if Bill lands a full-time job because of this contract position. Even if the new job requires him to travel occasionally. He can handle it. And I can handle it. At least, that's what I keep telling myself!
I hate it when he's gone. It's not that I can handle the kids...I can do that. It's not that I'm afraid to be alone at night...that doesn't bother me. It's not the extra work...I can keep up with that, as long as the lawn doesn't need to be mowed. I just hate how quiet it is. The only people I talked to all day were my children. There is no adult interaction. No one to laugh with me at the funny things they say. No one to wonder what I'm up to today. No one to give me a five-minute sanity break. It was noisy here all day, but I'm still lonely.
I think back to my childhood, and my Dad was gone often. Sometimes he was gone for months on end. To this day, I still do not know how my Mom did it...and she had 2 more kids to cope with than I did!
This will all be worth it if Bill lands a full-time job because of this contract position. Even if the new job requires him to travel occasionally. He can handle it. And I can handle it. At least, that's what I keep telling myself!
Monday, August 10, 2009
A few new house pictures
We had a rainbow last night, in between rounds of thunderstorms. I was at the store, but Bill decided to get some artistic shots of the house and the rainbow. You can see our completed retaining wall, the deck, and he's been doing some work in the peak of the garage. At the moment, the only projects he is working on are ones that don't involve spending any money. We had lots of nearly-complete projects, so he hasn't run out of things to do yet!
The retaining wall is in front of the porch. In the picture, it blends quite nicely with the brick on our house. We are very pleased with how it turned out!
The retaining wall is in front of the porch. In the picture, it blends quite nicely with the brick on our house. We are very pleased with how it turned out!
Bill: a 'cheap' genius
We have a lot of hummingbirds around here. I fill up our feeder every 48 hours in the summertime. Yes, it does get tedious after awhile, but I love to watch the birds, so it's worth it.
Here's a picture from last summer:
Friday night, Bill went to put some fresh sugar water in the feeder. However, the plastic bottle must have been weakened by being out in the sun, because it broke in his hands. We were both disappointed, because a new hummingbird feeder is a bit of a luxury at the moment. But Bill doesn't give up easily. He started going through the house, trying to find an empty bottle that would screw into the bottom of the feeder. He quickly ruled out an empty water bottle, a container with dish soap, and a few other items. Then, he found a nearly empty bottle of Bath & Body Works hand soap (Sun-ripened Raspberry, in case you were wondering). It was a perfect fit! So, I thoroughly cleaned the bottle, and after using some packaging tape and a paperclip, this is what our new feeder looks like:
The birds looked at us like we were crazy, but they quickly got over the new feeder's appearance. In fact, if you look toward the top of the picture, you can see a hummingbird is waiting for me to move so it can come eat.
Thanks, Bill!
Here's a picture from last summer:
Friday night, Bill went to put some fresh sugar water in the feeder. However, the plastic bottle must have been weakened by being out in the sun, because it broke in his hands. We were both disappointed, because a new hummingbird feeder is a bit of a luxury at the moment. But Bill doesn't give up easily. He started going through the house, trying to find an empty bottle that would screw into the bottom of the feeder. He quickly ruled out an empty water bottle, a container with dish soap, and a few other items. Then, he found a nearly empty bottle of Bath & Body Works hand soap (Sun-ripened Raspberry, in case you were wondering). It was a perfect fit! So, I thoroughly cleaned the bottle, and after using some packaging tape and a paperclip, this is what our new feeder looks like:
The birds looked at us like we were crazy, but they quickly got over the new feeder's appearance. In fact, if you look toward the top of the picture, you can see a hummingbird is waiting for me to move so it can come eat.
Thanks, Bill!
Dude!
Who could possibly be more cool than my little man? (please pay no attention to the mess around him, or the fact that he is still in his jammies!)
Friday, August 7, 2009
Some silliness
Sam has had a good week. He's cracked Bill and me up several times. Of course, we should write down the things he says a bit more often....I forget it if I don't write it down! Here's some things I do remember:
Now that he has turned 3, Sam has 'aged out' of the nursery. This means he needs to attend the first half of the church service with Bill, TJ, and me (he gets to go to Children's Worship the second half, thank goodness!). This past Sunday was his first Sunday in church. I really wasn't worried about Sam...I was worried about TJ misbehaving simply because Sam was there. Well, Sam was fine, and TJ wasn't terrible. We sit in the balcony so that we disturb fewer people, and so that the boys can 'help' Mr. Bos ring the bell at the start of church. Sam was enthralled by that.
One thing Sam didn't understand was the lengthy congregational prayer. He also doesn't understand whispering. Halfway through the prayer, he says to me (loudly!): "Hey! Stop sleeping!" Brianna was sitting with us Sunday, and I could feel her laughing.
******************************
If Sam doesn't like a certain food, he has developed the bad habit of stuffing it in his cheek. I have to watch closely to make sure he's swallowing, rather than 'chipmunking'. Well, tonight, he 'ate' an entire carrot stick, just to make me happy. Only, he didn't swallow any of it. He tucked it away in his cheeks. He left it there for almost 2 hours! He was busy and managed to disappear every time I reminded him to swallow it. I would've done a finger sweep if it had been something less healthy...like meat. Finally at 8:00, I told him it was time to spit the carrot out. Well, if there's one thing Sam likes less than eating 'yucky' foods, it's spitting it out. I opened the trash can, and he swiftly swallowed the carrot. Duh. Why didn't I think of that at 6:30??
*******************************
After dinner tonight, I developed a bad headache. I curled up on the couch, thinking I'd watch the boys play and hope my headache went away. Sam curled up with me...he had his head by my knees, and his well-padded you-can't-make-me-potty-train bottom in my face. I said to him, "You stink. I think you are poopy!". The next thing I knew, 20 minutes had passed. You know you're tired when you can fall asleep with a poopy diaper in your face. Sam had vanished, but the diaper fairy hadn't changed him. I had to track him down and change his diaper.
*******************************
Not to be outdone, TJ has his own quirks. He loves balloons. At any time, you can go into the family room and find several blown up balloons laying around. The neighbor girls have introduced him to the joy of water balloons. Only, TJ doesn't have the heart to break them. The girls gave him a green water balloon the other night, and TJ ran it in the kitchen and gently laid it on the counter. Then he went back to watch them break their balloons. I had visions of this balloon exploding and making a mess on my counter, so I put it in a bowl. It's been 2 days. The water balloon is still there. TJ picks it up and caresses it every now and then, but he refuses to break it, or let me get rid of it. I wonder how many other moms have a water balloon on their kitchen counter....
Now that he has turned 3, Sam has 'aged out' of the nursery. This means he needs to attend the first half of the church service with Bill, TJ, and me (he gets to go to Children's Worship the second half, thank goodness!). This past Sunday was his first Sunday in church. I really wasn't worried about Sam...I was worried about TJ misbehaving simply because Sam was there. Well, Sam was fine, and TJ wasn't terrible. We sit in the balcony so that we disturb fewer people, and so that the boys can 'help' Mr. Bos ring the bell at the start of church. Sam was enthralled by that.
One thing Sam didn't understand was the lengthy congregational prayer. He also doesn't understand whispering. Halfway through the prayer, he says to me (loudly!): "Hey! Stop sleeping!" Brianna was sitting with us Sunday, and I could feel her laughing.
******************************
If Sam doesn't like a certain food, he has developed the bad habit of stuffing it in his cheek. I have to watch closely to make sure he's swallowing, rather than 'chipmunking'. Well, tonight, he 'ate' an entire carrot stick, just to make me happy. Only, he didn't swallow any of it. He tucked it away in his cheeks. He left it there for almost 2 hours! He was busy and managed to disappear every time I reminded him to swallow it. I would've done a finger sweep if it had been something less healthy...like meat. Finally at 8:00, I told him it was time to spit the carrot out. Well, if there's one thing Sam likes less than eating 'yucky' foods, it's spitting it out. I opened the trash can, and he swiftly swallowed the carrot. Duh. Why didn't I think of that at 6:30??
*******************************
After dinner tonight, I developed a bad headache. I curled up on the couch, thinking I'd watch the boys play and hope my headache went away. Sam curled up with me...he had his head by my knees, and his well-padded you-can't-make-me-potty-train bottom in my face. I said to him, "You stink. I think you are poopy!". The next thing I knew, 20 minutes had passed. You know you're tired when you can fall asleep with a poopy diaper in your face. Sam had vanished, but the diaper fairy hadn't changed him. I had to track him down and change his diaper.
*******************************
Not to be outdone, TJ has his own quirks. He loves balloons. At any time, you can go into the family room and find several blown up balloons laying around. The neighbor girls have introduced him to the joy of water balloons. Only, TJ doesn't have the heart to break them. The girls gave him a green water balloon the other night, and TJ ran it in the kitchen and gently laid it on the counter. Then he went back to watch them break their balloons. I had visions of this balloon exploding and making a mess on my counter, so I put it in a bowl. It's been 2 days. The water balloon is still there. TJ picks it up and caresses it every now and then, but he refuses to break it, or let me get rid of it. I wonder how many other moms have a water balloon on their kitchen counter....
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