Ethan made his own "-ism"

Ethan was looking all over for something. Truly searching high and low.

Exasperated (which happens frequently), he finally asked Christopher and I, "WHERE IS THE BEE RACKET??"

WHAT??

We of course had no idea what he was talking about. He kept repeating "The bee racket, the bee racket!!"

Since we didn't even know where to start helping him look, he set upon the task himself. At last, he returned with ....

a fly swatter.

A Bathroom Story

While I was washing my face this morning, soap in my eyes, I heard Ethan's little voice saying, "Mommy can I have a cotton candy?"

"Um, hang on sweetie....what??" Quickly splashing off the suds. "...cotton candy?!"

"Yeah, one of 'doz wittle marshmallows?" I love his words so much.

After drying my face off I searched around trying to find what kind of food item he could want that we stored in the bathroom. Now, I've been known to stash away chocolate on occasion but most certainly not in the **ahem** restroom. And definitely not cotton candy or marshmallows (too messy to hide).

"DEES Mommy!" he emphatically pointed at my jar of cotton balls. Geez, the way he said it was like I was completely dense or something.

Buy Me Some Peanuts and Cracker Jacks....or a little fried chicken?

Julian is doing very well for his first
season playing baseball. He isn't that crazy about it, but he is faithful in finishing out the season. I guess when you only play 2 out of 7 innings (in left field) and maybe bat twice a game, what's to love about the American pastime? The team is too large so 4 kids are always benched. The batting rotation takes SO long that if you are at the bottom of the list, you might not bat until the 3rd inning. Talk about boring! The benched kids just sit and consume massive amounts of sunflower seeds. One kid started eating fried chicken and pop, probably
figuring he'd never get any action so might as well grab lunch.
I am proud of Julian for his character around this issue. He doesn't complain but always asks the coach to play every inning. He cheers the other kids on from the bench. He suits up for every game, knowing he won't play very much.
In the end, I know that this is just one experience to learn from and that it is building character.











Do these kids know how to tailgate or what?! Cheezits and fluffy pillows in the back of the van. That's what I'm talkin' about.

Yesterday Christopher surprised me with an incredible Mothers Day gift: an afternoon at the spa!! It's been a while since I had any kind of pampering treatment like that, unless taking a shower without interruption counts.
The package included a facial, body massage, manicure, and pedicure. The place was quiet. It smelled like lavender everywhere. The lights were low and they played this ambient Japanese nature music that was very soothing.
Truth be known, I spent the last half mentally composing a letter to the family, trying to figure out how to break the news that I would be staying there and could they just forward my mail?

I just love this dog.