Layers

Sometimes the kids have such a "brilliant" idea that you can't even come up with an answer when they explain it to you. You stand there with a blank look on your face or else you have to walk away (so you can crack up laughing without making them feel bad) This morning was one of those times.

I asked Sam to get dressed. He said "Okay, that's easy!"
He stood up and pulled off his pajamas. Ta-da!! There were clothes underneath.

Then he said "Want to see something cool? I had this idea last night!"
He lifted his shirt up. There was another pair of pajamas underneath the shirt.
He said "I decided that I'd put my pajamas on over clothes for the next day, so then I wouldn't have to get dressed in the morning, I could just take my pajamas off. Then I decided I'd put those clothes on over pajamas, so that way I don't have to put pajamas on tonight either, I can just take the clothes off!"

Um, yes. Brilliant. Sort of.

At least I don't have to worry about him getting cold at night and needing extra blankets!

A Little Confusion

Clark and Paul had a conversation yesterday about cupcakes. Paul was commenting on how yummy the cupcakes are that I've made. Clark said that he's lucky, because some mommies don't bake cupcakes.
Paul's response was, "I know! And some people don't even have kids! Like Mok & Pa!"
Clark said "Um, Mok and Pa have two kids."
Paul: "Really, who?"
Clark: "Mellie and Mommy."
Paul: "WHAT???"

So yes, apparently it's somehow slipped past our four year old that his grandparents are, in fact, my parents.

But there are other things that he's learned that surprise me at times. Tonight we were driving home from Sam's swimming lesson, and Sam pointed out the window. He said "Look, Paul! A big flock of birds!!" Paul said to him "Sam, those are geese. And they're in a big flock because they're migrating. Didn't they teach you that in school yet?"

A Geography Lesson From Sam

On the way to the gym this morning, both boys were playing with Pokemon action figures in the car. There was music on, and the pokemon characters were dancing. Sam started telling Paul where he thought all the pokemon characters were from. He said that Snorlax was from China, and that Lucario was from Greece. Then he said "Galade is from New York."

Paul asked "I think Infernape is from Disneyworld!" Sam said "No, Paul. Pokemon can't be from Disneyworld. I think Infernape must be from Detroit." Then Sam made Infernape dance to the music, and announced "This is how they dance in Detroit. Their heads spin around, and they wiggle their tails."

Good to know, Sam. Good to know.

Question of the day

"Did Daddy used to be a bank robber?"

"Um, no, Paul. I'm pretty sure Daddy was never a bank robber."

"How do you know?"

Sweetie Pie

Well, I was having a not-so-fun evening yesterday, because today I get to have a colonoscopy. So last night I was doing the prep. Clark took care of the boys, explaining to them that Mommy didn't feel very good, and needed to be left alone. I gave them a hug and kiss goodnight, but otherwise didn't see them the whole evening.

Until Sam came out of his room about 20 minutes after bedtime. Said he had a present for me. He brought me a piece of paper that had "best mommy ever award" written on it, and a picture of me standing on a platform with a medal around my neck. (can you tell he enjoyed the olympics?) I told him he was so sweet, and gave him a big hug and thanked him.

About 2 hours later I went upstairs to go to bed. Sitting on my pillow was another piece of paper, which said "To: Mommy From: Sam" on it. And sitting next to this paper was a circle of paper, about 4 inches in diameter, colored entirely yellow. With a big #1 written on it. And a string taped to it. Yes, he actually made me a gold medal.

So while it hadn't exactly been a fun evening, I went to bed with a big smile on my face.

AWESOME!!!!!!!

A few nights ago, Sam had earned enough stickers on his sticker chart for his first official "big guy night out". We'd told him that when he filled up the chart, one of us would take him out somewhere fun at bedtime, while the other one of us would stay home and put Paul to bed. Well, Sunday night was the night. I gave him the choice between going to see a movie (either the new Star Wars one or the Fly Me to the Moon 3D) or going to play lasertag. He'd never done lasertag before, and thought that sounded like a great idea.

We got there, and walked in. While I payed at the counter, he bounced. He was so excited that he just jumped up and down. We had to wait about 10 minutes for our game to start, so I told him it would probably be a good idea to use the bathroom before it was time to play. He opened the bathroom door and yelled "AWESOME!" on the top of his lungs. The bathroom was dark, lit only by a black light, with neon graffiti all over the walls, which of course were painted black. Sam came out a few minutes later and told me all about how the toilet paper glowed. I think it was worth the $7 admission just for the exciting bathroom.

Then we started the game. Sam was by far the littlest kid there--there were 3 boys who were probably 12-14 or so, and 4 girls who were probably in their late teens. Sam and I had a blast. We were on different teams, so he had a lot of fun sneaking up on me to tag me. At the end they printed out scorecards. Sam was in last place, by far, but he'd shot me more times than I'd shot him, so that was a very successful evening in his eyes. The first words out of his mouth as we drove away were "Can we do that again sometime soon? It was AWESOME!"

The beautiful sound of summer

The boys were getting ready for bed tonight when Sam suddenly said "Mommy, what is that sound? I hear music!"

I realized what it was--an ice cream truck! On our street! So I told Sam, and he went running to the door to look. Sure enough, it'd just passed our house. I told Sam "Don't worry, we'll catch it!" The only problem? Paul was naked. So I sent him running into the house for pants, while Sam and I chased down the truck. Luckily we didn't have to go far--it stopped 3 houses down from ours for some more kids who were outside. I looked back, and still didn't see Paul, so I handed Sam a $5 bill and went running back to find Paul. He came out, wearing inside out and backward pajama pants, but at least wasn't naked anymore, so off we went to the ice cream truck.

They both got Spongebob Squarepants popsicles, which cost $2.50 each. A little pricier than the 25 cent popsicles of my childhood, but I think it was just about the best $5 I've ever spent. They did a happy dance while eating them. Paul only made it through about half of his, but it was definitely the highlight of his day. And watching them dance and giggle while eating a popsicle was definitely the highlight of mine.