So… does anyone else find themselves murmuring things like, “The broccoli is good. The broccoli is life-affirming” as they eat dinner at the end of a long day?
In my defense, it was exceptionally tasty broccoli 😛
Tag: silliness
{sqt} – because my kids are weird and wonderful
- No one is ever interested if I offer to read them a book, but if I sit down on the couch and start reading aloud I am covered in children within two minutes.
- Aubade currently refuses to be called anything except her first name. Literally. To the extent that she takes offense at being called beautiful, or helpful, or big, or little, or tough, or silly. I’ll say, “I love you little girl!” and she’ll reply, “I’m not a little girl, I’m an Aubade!” The exception is if she’s playing a pretend game, in which case she is usually a little alligator and objects to being called anything other than that…
- Everything is fair game to become part of a Solar System. Countless rocks have been pressed into service as various planets; all the balls and balloons in the house have been used multiple times; and Limerick and I even built a version using pattern blocks the other day. The most amusing was when we went to the grocery store and the boys planned out a whole Solar System using the different varieties of pumpkin in the fall display… I think they were inspired by the pumpkin that was so big they could have curled up inside it, which made a rather stunning Sun 🙂
- If I clean up the brain flakes, so all three jars are full and there are no more random pieces lying around on the floors, the kids will pounce upon them like a tiger on its prey and immediately dump them all back out and begin building as if the world contained nothing else. They usually stay cleaned up for no more than ten minutes, and that’s if I attempt to hide them…
- Aubade has quite a unique fashion sense. This morning she was wearing an overall dress with no shirt underneath but a skirt instead. The other day I came home from work to find her dressed in pants and a t-shirt with a tunic tank top and shorts layered over it. She also is very adamant about wearing socks and usually has at least six out around the house at any one time (she likes to layer the socks, too, on her hands and her feet).
- Rondel must be approaching some sort of growth spurt, because he is eating ridiculous amounts of food. The other day I roasted four medium potatoes and four large carrots and he ate all of them, plus two pieces of toast, just for breakfast. Another day I made a batch of waffles (whole grains, loaded with carrots, an extra egg for more protein) and he ate four of them (I was full after two, for comparison). And he tells me all day long that he is hungry. I’m starting to be nervous about how much he’ll be able to eat as a teenager!
- Limerick asked me, after seeing a selfie my mom took with Rondel when he was a baby, how she could take the picture and be in it at the same time. This was the result. Pretty much sums up how good life is with these crazy awesome kids 🙂
toddler potty humor
It starts young… 🙂
I was putting some dirty diapers in the diaper pail this evening and came across a poopy one, so I commented, “Eww, a poopy diaper!” Well, Rondel heard me and replied, “Limerick is a poopy diaper!”
And then he just about fell over laughing (Limerick was rather oblivious, fortunately).
I suppose I’ll have to add “Please don’t call your brother a poopy diaper” to the list of things I never thought I’d say, and then try to explain to Rondel that it isn’t very kind to call someone names of that sort, even if they don’t seem to mind. (I can hear him now telling me that Limerick wasn’t sad about it so it should be ok…) He just has a toddler’s keen eye for incongruity coupled with a toddler’s immature sense of empathy!
smiling for the camera
“Limerick, is it ok if I take a picture of you?”
“Do that!”
“Ok, look up and smile at the camera!”
{pretty, happy, funny, real} – in which some oddities of my family are revealed
Let me preface this week’s edition of {p,h,f,r} by telling you that all these pictures come from the same day, and that this day is not really that extraordinary of a day for us – I just happened to have my camera on hand for most of it. I feel like my goal is calm, ordered, semi-normal routines, but the reality of our family life is spontaneous, diverse, and weird. Or maybe it is just the things that fill in the routines that are strange… we still do have normal activities each day like naps and meals and baths 😛
{pretty}
On this particular day we visited the zoo for my nephew’s birthday. I am not a huge fan of large groups of people with small children trying to do the zoo together, but it worked out alright and we were able to go at the kids’ pace. We saw the flamingos and the monkeys and got to go inside the aviary, which are all highlights for my boys. One thing I love about the zoo is getting to see the incredible beauty and diversity of the animal kingdom!
{happy}
Another nice aspect of our local zoo is that it has a small splash pad just right for smaller kids – it is a great way to unwind and cool off before heading home, especially when the weather is warmer. Limerick was already past his nap time but the water (and birthday cake) gave us an extra 30-45 minutes with the extended family.
{funny}
After nap we had a pretty relaxed afternoon, reading books, playing at home, etc., and while I was making dinner I left the kids to their own devices.
Maybe that wasn’t the wisest idea.
But it was certainly amusing! And we don’t use the dishwasher, so I didn’t really mind the boys playing with the rack. Later that evening I found a pile of random objects behind the office door and Rondel informed me that they had been recycled by his stuffed monkeys, who carried them there in their dump truck (the dishwasher rack).
Could there be a more random assortment of items?
{real}
This was part of dinner cooking in its early stages – baby gold potatoes cooked in chicken broth. Everything was going well and then I got distracted by the kids’ creativity and hilarity and came running back to the kitchen to discover all the broth evaporated (which was supposed to happen) and the potatoes all sticking to the skillet (which was not supposed to happen). Sigh. They still tasted good though! In my dream house, the kitchen wouldn’t be a little closet of a room disconnected from everything else…
There would also be better lighting for indoor picture-taking, I think. You know, if we’re dreaming here 🙂 One of the drawbacks of a town home is that there aren’t many available walls for windows!
Head on over to the link up at Like Mother, Like Daughter and check out some of the other blogs! It’s always fun to see the craziness that goes on in other people’s families, to know we’re not the only ones 🙂
firetruck songs
Rondel has been asking me to sing firetruck songs to him every day for the past couple weeks, typically with some very unique requirements:
“Sing firetruck song bout firetruck with no wheels!”
“Sing firetruck song bout firetruck with no siren!”
“Sing firetruck song bout firetruck with no light!”
“Sing firetruck song with tow truck in it!”
And so on.
Needless to say I don’t actually know any songs that fit these specifications, so I’ve been making them up and now my own silly firetruck songs are stuck in my head. For posterity, and maybe for a laugh, here are the two current favorites:
“There once was a big red firetruck
Who used to drive all around the town
If there was a fire, he’d put the fire out
And all the other cars would cheer and shout
‘We love you, we love you, big red firetruck!
Thank you, oh thank you, for putting the fire out!’
Then one day, his wheels fell off
So now he couldn’t drive anywhere
He was stuck in the fire station sitting on the ground
And if there was a fire, the building just burned down.
‘Where are you, where are you,’ the other cars would shout,
‘We need you, we need you, to put the fire out!’
But then a tow truck drove into town
He saw the big red firetruck sitting on the ground
He bought him some new wheels so he could drive around
And the big red firetruck went to put the fire out.
‘Hooray, hooray,’ the other cars all say,
‘Thank you, nice tow truck, for giving the firetruck new wheels!'”
And then the song that really gets him thinking about deep moral quandaries (seriously, he goes through a roller coaster of emotions with this one, and his face gets all concerned and focused):
“A little tired firetruck drove down the road
He’d had a long day and he wanted to go home
But first he thought he’d take a nap right there by the road
So he pulled off to the side and soon he fell asleep.
While the little firetruck slept there by the road
A big green tow truck happened to drive by
I think this tow truck must have been a mean guy
Because he took the firetrucks wheels and left him all alone.
When the tired little firetruck woke up from his nap
His wheels were all gone and he was stuck there on the ground
There was nothing he could do but sit there and cry
He was so sad because he had no wheels.
But then a nice tow truck was driving down the road
And saw the little firetruck so sad and all alone
He towed him into town and helped him get new wheels
And the little tired firetruck was so happy once again.”
The crazy things we do for our kids… I wonder if he’ll even remember that we used to sing silly firetruck songs together in a year or two. That might be better than having to sing them every day for that long though!
little thoughts 