Roadtrip!

The monsoon is over. We're heading to the rez for the weekend. Our route goes through western PA, west of the flooding.

Hooray, hurrah. We haven't seen daddy for a week; he's been working on heavy trucks. I just love those code names, like I'm married to a secret agent.

Showers

It's getting hard to take a shower around here. That is, it's getting hard to find a little peace and quiet in the shower. We have a shower addict, a boy who wouldn't miss a shower like he wouldn't miss his next donut. Turner will wake up in the morning, hear Randy showering, jump out of bed and run to the bathroom, stripping off his pajamas and diaper along the way. "Daddy, can I shower with you?"

Daddy's a sucker.

It can take a while to finish up when you're rinsing with only half the water. But after his shower, Daddy will set the kid up with some cereal at the table. Sometimes, before he leaves for work, he'll even put Caillou on T.V. in the basement.

That's my moment to try to sneak in my own private shower. The water warms, I've got the shampoo in hand when I hear thump thump thump coming up two flights of stairs, flat feet running a square around the stairs to the master bath, and the door to the shower slides open:

"Mommy, I think I got a little bit dirty at beckfast."

There is really only one solution. Shower faster.

Picture of the Day: Crane Feeding

Our Budding Linguist

Turner has the best conversations in the car, presumably because he has a captive audience.

I overheard the following on Thursday, once again in the car:

T: Dad, what do cars do?
R: What do cars do? Well, cars drive.
T: Noooo, cars don't drive! People drive. Cars move. On wheels.

Il me manque

Jesse has gone to Chicago for a month. Il me manque. That translates to 'I miss him,' but I like the French version better because it changes the order of the words. More literally, it might be "he lacks in me." Randy never felt the phrase made sense until I pointed out the similarity to the use of the word haunt: he haunts me. The French word makes missing something that happens to you, not something that you do, which I think better describes the hole in your heart when someone is gone from your life.

Real Tools

As we passed a garbage truck this morning, Turner announced, "Mom, I want to be a garbage man. With tools. Real tools."

For the past week, all I've heard about is how Nicky has real tools, and how much Turner wants real tools too. Nicky is five, and I'm pretty sure he hasn't been bringing his tools to the babysitter for Turner to see, so I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that Nicky's tools are not much more real than Turner's. But either way, given Turner's propensity for pretending to hammer nails in such things as the wall, my arm, and the television screen, he's unlikely to get any real tools anytime soon.

Picture of the Day: Tools!

Picture of the Day: Daddy wins...

... the Who-Can-Build-a-Block-Tower-Taller-than-Himself competition.

Picture of the Day: Take Me Out to the Ballgame

I don't think Randy will be able to wear a W cap until the current administration leaves office. If ever.

Pictures of the Day: Haircuts!

The boys love this place because it has TVs.



I'm not sure why he's pouting; he's watching Thomas. Maybe he's worried about the mean old freight cars.



The finished product:

Picture of the Day: Jesse and the Deer

I picked up a new camera card this afternoon, and arrived home to find a deer in our backyard. That's not an uncommon occurrence, but this one was particularly comfortable with humans. She stayed put with Jesse watching while I got the camera card out, searched for scissors to open the package, returned and walked around the deck and yard looking for a good vantage point. She finally turned tail and ran when Jesse went around the bush to get closer.

Picture of the Day: Thomery Cottage

Found an old pic -- I believe this was the week we moved.

You Didn't Hear This From Me

I've misplaced the card to my camera...waah, no new pictures. I guess I'll have to tell a story I wasn't supposed to tell.

The other night, DH heard, "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" followed by someone stampeding down the hall.

"I wasn't wearing any underwear! ALL DAY!"

Freaky.

Out of the Mouths of Babes, Part II

Jesse's class play was yesterday, a musical titled, "Imagine If...." where the kids imagined lots of crazy things. At the end of the play they showed a film made of the children asking us to imagine what the world could be like, while John Lennon played in the background.

Jesse expressed the longest wish, "Imagine if the world went back to what it was like before people started littering and doing other things that damage the earth."

Bless those socialist liberal educators who socialize our children.

Out of the Mouths of Babes, Part I

Yesterday, apropos of nothing, a little voice from the back of my car announced, "Mommy, people like you." What angel told him to say that?