They're a Great Team

This morning D. and I woke up to our sons proudly bringing us breakfast in bed. M. operated the toaster, P. buttered and cinnamoned the toast. P. got out the bottle of juice, M. poured it. M. scooped out the yogurt for the parfait, P. put the berries in. P. decided ice cream would be good, M. scooped it. P. sang up the stairs, M. carried the tray.

Could they be any cuter? That's why I write this stuff down, so we'll all remember.

Who Knew?

Apparently, if you angle the jets in the whirlpool tub just so and let out just enough water, you can have a nifty water cannon that shoots hot soapy water out the bathroom door and down the stairs!

And the Angels Sang "Ahhhh-ahhhhh-ahhhhhhh"

Is there anything quite like putting on a new pair of glasses and realizing just how much you weren't seeing with the old ones? And I can read with these ones too!

Dream = Reality

Dreamt that we woke up late and had to rush to make P's bus on time. Then I really did wake up and...

Lists from a Vacation

The boys and I just spent the better part of a week in NJ visiting my family. On the long drive home, this is what I was thinking about:

Stuff Brought to NJ:

• Too many clothes for the boys, not enough for me.
• Too much food in the cooler
• Apparently not enough books

Stuff That Should Have Been Brought to NJ:

• The main vitamins for P. (I bought all the secondary vitamins but left home the one that they all get mixed into)
• Some meds (non-necessary ones)
• The medicine eye dropper for the necessary one (but P. learned to swallow pills, yay!)
• my swimsuit cover-up

Stuff Left in NJ:

• Lots of hugs and kisses
• 2 boy socks (not matching, naturally)**
• 1 Buzz Lightyear*
• 2 oil portraits of M & P (they needed to dry first)
  
• 1 book the nephew was in the middle of
  

Stuff That Has to Go Back to NJ:

• 1 portable DVD player and some movies, most particularly Beauty & the Beast
  

Stuff Acquired in NJ:

• Lots of memories! cousins reading to each other in bed, Wii dragon battles, Friendly's ice cream, swimming, reading the paper, one little cousin dragging one big cousin *everywhere* (c'mon!), yummy food, book club, seeing friends, riding in each other's cars, going to the movies, taking uninterrupted showers, and many more...
• As many snacks and drinks for the ride home as I could "steal" :-D
• Some great photos that my friend K. took
  
• Toy Story 3 toys/games (thanks Aunt D!)
• 2 Koosh balls that also become spiky hats (thanks Aunt R!)
• Clean laundry! Yay!
  

* updated: Buzz has been found under the seat of the car. Call off the search party!

** update to the update: I think I found the socks too, mixed in with mine.

I Just Love It When a Plan Comes Together

I have had this picture in my head ever since we moved into our house 6 years ago.

We have never used the coat closet in the entry hall for its intended purpose. It is so small that coats ended up everywhere else. I found the bench at a garage sale last summer (I'm still debating whether or not to paint it. Yellow? Red? White?) I painted the inside of the closet to match the kitchen (which horrified D. at the time and probably still does). In the fall we finally got the walls fixed and hung the coat hooks. Now the shelves are in the closet along with the bins I found 2 years ago (they pick up all the colors in the curtain fabric that's still under my bed). I'm still filling them and moving the contents around, but a lot of the flotsam and jetsam from everywhere has found a home. You can't quite see it in the picture but we've got an outlet in there for the cell phones and whatever else needs charging. The boys backpacks are no longer objects to trip over. We traded the ugly front door for a beautiful one. Behr, btw, calls that color "Lunar Shadow." We call it "Necco Wafer" (which horrified me until the 2nd coat went on).

But since we both picked it out from the 30 or so paint chips I had taped to the door, it's all good. Everyone has their own shoe bin, even guests (though that's still taking some work to make sure the shoes actually end up there). We're going to change the floor, but haven't had the chance to go pick something out yet.

Now when I come home, aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh. Organized heaven.

Summer is Officially Here

The ice cream man has arrived in our neighborhood!

8 Things About You at Age 8

1. You are into trading card games. Any and all of them. Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, Harry Potter, Dinosaur King, 39 Clues... If there are cards to collect, play with and trade, you're in.

2. You're developing your own sense of style. Graphic tshirts, dragon pendants on a leather choker and Silly Bandz. You're pretty cute.

3. You decided on your own to audition for a speaking part in the Second Grade play. And you got one of the leads! You've also asked to take Irish dance lessons.

4. At the lunch table you and your friends discuss economics, theories about the Bermuda Triangle, the existence of alien lifeforms, inventions the world needs, and the differences in various religious traditions. I am totally blown away by that.

5. You put all the change in your piggy bank in a donation bin to help underprivileged kids go to camp.

6. You're a really great brother. I love seeing the bond between you and P. You can always make him laugh. You never think twice about helping him, playing with him, translating for him and advocating for him. He's lucky to have you.

7. You still love sugar above all things. With french fries and chicken fingers coming in a close second.

8. You still really hate it when we have to wash your hair or cut your nails. But you're a lot less whiny about it than you used to be.

1. You still love all things Toy Story. We're definitely going to see TS3 in the theatre as soon as it's released!

2. You will eat frozen meatballs if I don't catch you fast enough.

3. Swimming is still your favorite but you're starting to enjoy running too.

4. You just got a STAR award at school for showing the most growth over the school year.

5. A 1929 Model-T Ford drove into the parking lot of a local diner while we were having dinner. You turned to me in great excitement and said "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!"

6. You're a really great brother. I love seeing the bond between you and M. You can always make him laugh. You miss him when he's not around. You'll bring him the toys and books you know he likes and play for awhile, even when they're not your favorites. You ask him to sing to you at night so you can go to sleep. He's lucky to have you.

7. You think hanging out in a fort made of boxes and couch cushions and blankets is the coolest thing in the world. Bonus if there are snacks and a movie on the portable DVD player involved.

8. You've been using an augmentative speech device and doing really well with it. We've also noticed a real increase in your vocal speech since you've been using it.