Weekend Review

Our weekend a recap in pictures.

Ian helping his Daddy water the grass seeds (this is actually from last week, but Ian has been a watering helper several times since I took these pictures).  The grass finally started to sprout late last week after all the rain.  Chris mowed the lawn around the spots where the delicate new grass was growing.  We couldn't not mow because the grass that was still left was crazy long after all the rain we have been getting.


Playing with the new PBS Kids app on the iPad Friday night.  He loves playing with the iPad, and I have a lot of games and videos on it for him.


Ian pulling Mason in for a nose kiss (pressing noses together) on Sunday morning.  We lazied about most of the day working on little things around the house.


Attacking Daddy!  What is more fun that using a person as your own personal jungle gym?


I worked on a little sewing project that I will highlight in tomorrow's post.  Also, I cleaned out Ian's closet.  Oh my goodness that kid grows fast.  We boxed up the stuff he is growing out of and that is off season (even though it suddenly feels like fall again - stupid Michigan) and went out shopping for some new shorts to replace the ones he outgrew from last year.  Mind you I tried on his shorts from last year about 3 weeks ago and they fit, then on Friday when it was over 80 degrees I pulled out a pair only to find they were too tight on him.  Go figure!

Kane on the Loose

Our neighbors have a dog; he is a young German Shepherd mix they call Kane.  For the most part he is harmless, rarely barks, sometimes sneaks into your backyard to play and poop.  The only concern I have about Kane is his aggressive friendliness.  The broken fence on his side of the yard makes it too tempting to hope over into our yard so I can't really blame him for that. Maybe his owner but not Kane.
 


(photo from last spring of Kane visiting while we drew with sidewalk chalk outside.)

It isn't uncommon for Kane to be outside and come bounding over to say hi when we arrive home.  Usually it is just lots of wiggling and poking with his snout, but he is a big boy and just his size alone could knock you over if he decides to brush the back of your knee in his circles of joy.  He has knocked Ian over before coming to say hi so I'm always cautious and get Kane to go home when Ian is around, but when I'm alone I don't mind Kane's little visits.

Thursday evening I ran out to get a few groceries and a treat for work on Friday because it is one of my student's last day.  I piled the few bags in the back of the van at the foot of Ian's car seat.  When I got home I noticed Kane in the front yard with one of our neighbor's friends.  I got out of the car as usual and opened the sliding door to get my stuff.  At this moment, I noticed Kane bounding across our yard at full speed, coming to say hello.  I turned to face him and braced myself in case he jumped on me when he arrived.  Instead, he jumped right past me and into the back of my van.  He wiggled his way into the back behind the seats, like he thought he was going to get to go on a car ride. 

I was totally in shock at first.  I really didn't expect that at all!  After checking to make sure he didn't smash my food I opened the back hatch for him to get out while the neighbor's friend came running calling out Kane's name.  Whoever the guy was he looked completely mortified.  Kane didn't do any damage and eventually hopped back out of the van the same way he came in and went bounding home with the guy.  He was quickly ushered into the house. 

At least no real harm is done when Kane is on the loose. 

It is going to be a blast the next time Mason is in the van and catches a whiff of Kane having been in the vehicle.  He's little smooshed nose will be all out of joint. 





(For the record I feel really lucky to have a friendly dog living next door.  He might stop by for unexpected visits but it could be a lot worse if he was mean.)

The Story of a Booger

When Ian was smaller he would get really upset when I would wipe his nose.  I think maybe he thought I was taking the snot out and it was actually supposed to say in there.  To make it more of a game I would tell him I was collecting his boogers for my collection, that conveniently was stored in the trash can.

(Yeah I know I'm weird. That is a surprise to no one who knows me, I'm sure.  I make up games and songs to make mundane and unpleasant things more fun.  If you don't like it you can put on your "Socks and Shoes! Socks and Shoes! It is time for Socks and Shoes!" and "shake your groove thing" on out the door.)

So now that Ian is a little bigger he doesn't mind me helping keep his nose clean and will allow me to look for and clean his boogers and runny (or as he calls it "wet") nose.  I usually look inside his nose and act all horrified by the state of his nose and dramatically clean it up to save the day. Sometimes he gets his own tissue and wipes his nose himself, putting the drama into throwing the tissue away.

(See being goofy works!)

Somewhere along the nose wiping way I started calling Ian "Booger" as sort of a nickname, anytime he was being a bit of a pest or had a runny nose.  It seemed appropriate because being the keeper of boogers is sort of one of the main jobs of a mom and kids keep mom's in steady supply of reasons to do this job.

(I also call lovingly call Ian, "Bubba" and "Stinky Foot" as a play on Littlefoot from A Land Before Time and the fact that Ian does in fact have stinky feet.)

Well now that you know the back story; last night Ian and I were wrestling on the floor, generally goofing around and being obnoxious.  At one point he grabs my head with both his hands and tilts my head to look up my nose, pretty much the exact way I do to him.  It was pretty random, but I like to go with the flow and see what he comes up with next.  After a thorough inspection of my nose, Ian decided I had a "wet" nose.  He looked closer, I assumed to determine if I needed a tissue, but then exclaimed very animatedly, "Booger!  Then he got the look of mock horror on his face and ran away screaming.

(The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?  My poor kid is going to be as weird and I am.)

((I think I might save this story to include on my application for Mother of the Year.  Clearly, with this type of parenting I am going to win hands down.))

Bits-and-Pieces

1.  I spent some time this last week making reusable snack bags from oilcloth.  Now that I have a sewing machine at the ready, I can toss together little projects like this when they pop to mind.  Unfortunately, the big projects like the skirt I started get pushed back.  (The skirt is being avoided because I am nervous about working on the hem.  I'm wanting to be in the right mood to concur that job. 

2.  In the past week I have seeded our front lawn twice...still no grass sprouts.  If it doesn't take this time I might just pave over it and call it good.  I'm so sick of looking at all the bare dirt and having Chris waste water in vane trying to get it to grow.  One thing owning a house has proved to me is that I DO NOT like yard work.

3.  I had an awesome day with my best friend Sarah this Saturday.  We made a plan to get together for a night sometime soon, and have a girls day including a sleep over.  The idea is to get a hotel near the outlets and stay there for the night just to get away.  It will be my first overnight away from Ian. 

4.  I joined Pinterest and I like it better than Tumblr for storing things I like online.  It is awesome because you can put things into categories.  They had me at organization!  Yay!

5.  My toenails are currently painted florescent orange.  I just thought you should know, or at least be warned because it is bright!  Obnoxious, just the way I like my toenail polish.

Five things that make me happy right now (because reminders are always a good thing): a Kindle book gifted to me from a friend, my sewing machine and stock of fabrics for random projects, snuggling with my son while he plays games on my iPad, my husband for doing what he can to help me feel less stressed, and the chimes hanging on my porch playing me a cheery tune in the spring breeze. 

Mama

Yesterday was Mother's Day, and it was a lovely day! My Mother's Day actually started with getting to sleep in on Saturday (what a joyful gift).  On Sunday we all woke up together and went out to breakfast early to avoid the rush.  That turned out to be a big fail because all the restaurants were already busy with families taking moms out to breakfast. 

After we got home I took a nice long shower, just because I could, and enjoyed being able to take my time getting ready for once.

Meanwhile, I learned, Chris was coaching Ian to say Happy Mom's Day, which ended up still coming out "Mom Day!"  He ran up to me the moment I came out of the bathroom with an iTunes gift card and his declaration of "Mom Day!"  I don't think he understood but he sure was proud to deliver that little card to me.  (I used it to buy music and some apps for the iPad. Woo!)  What a sweetie!

Then Ian spent the rest of the day calling me "Mama."  Usually he calls me Mom or Mommy so Mama sounded so sweet and cute because I hadn't heard it since he was just learning to talk.

At least it sounded sweet and cute for the first half of the day. 

I made the mistake of telling him that I liked that he was calling me Mama for a change and that it made me feel good to hear him say that.  So as you would imagine he spent the rest of the day calling me Mama.

Mama, see!

Mama, cars!

Mama, I want juice. Mama!

Mama, sit! Mama, cars.

Mama. Thank you Mama. Thank you.

After a few hours of this, Mama sounded less and less sweet and more and more annoying.  But I tried my best to grin and bare it but I know he was just doing it because he is two and I said that I liked being called Mama. 

Other than hearing the name Mama eleventy billion times my Mother's Day was nice and low key, just the way I like it.  Relaxing is a premium gift that I don't take for granted! 

Nor do I take for granted the gift of motherhood.  Becoming a mom didn't come easy and days like Mother's Day just remind me how much my heart and soul wanted Ian and that I am the luckiest lady alive to have him in my life.

Six Word Saturday

Coming out of my funk? Maybe.

For Mom

IMAG0321.jpg, originally uploaded by cmstacer.

Our day care provider bought flowers for all the Kids to give their moms for Mother's day. One of the girls gave Ian these to give me, meanwhile one of the babies crawled over and grabbed at the remaining flowers ripping off some of the petals. I offered to take them so the other moms can have the more perfect flowers. Honestly, those missing petals make them more special to me. Slightly flawed but sincere.

Cheers

We have lots of moments when Ian is talking and I just don't get most of what he is trying to say.  He has a LOT of words he says really well, but some still throw me for a loop.

The other night we were having dinner and Ian got up from his seat and ran over to stand next to me and kept repeating something over and over.  I was trying to put the sounds together into something but it took long enough for him to get frustrated.  Then he shoved his cup up in my face and said it again and it all came together.

"Cheers!"

He said "Cheers" and wanted to click glasses with me!!!

First of all: that is so cute I just might die.

Second of all: I felt so awful to leave the poor kid hanging while I tried to decipher the word he was rambling. 

Third of all: Where the heck does he come up with this stuff?  We don't toast anything!  That is a little too fancy for our drinking from whatever cup or mug was clean and most reachable in the cabinet family.  All I can think of it was something they did at day care or he caught it from that movie Despicable Me, when the little girls have a tea party and "clink" their cups together.  Either way he is a sponge.

So CHEERS everyone, Happy Thursday! *clink*

I Do It!

On my lunch hour today I spotted a little girl, dressed in purple, run ahead of her mother to drop a letter into the mailbox outside the pharmacy. She must have been about five years old, and looked so happy to be doing this little job.  You should see the pride on her face that she did it all by herself.

A memory suddenly struck me; an image of myself crossing the street at the corner by the bank, running ahead of my mom to put her mail in the mailbox. Then I would cross the street again and trail behind her to the grocery store. We always walked because the store and the corner with the mailbox were so close.

I remember the pride I felt in being helpful and doing a chore all by myself...even if mom was just a few yards away keeping tabs on me. It feels so good to be independent and helpful!

This in turn made me realize something else, something much more important. On mornings like today when it takes an extra five minutes just to get Ian dressed for the day because he is insistent that "I do it!" (I meaning him) I should push back the frustration that we are tuning late and let him take the lead. I might be a few minutes late for work but he is learning and I love the thought of the pride he must feel in accomplishing something for himself.

I love it when the universe finds a way of showing me something I should have realized all along but needed a nudge to remember.