Fess Up Friday

Be sure to check out Kira's blog.  It sounds like she may be taking a temporary blogging hiatus, but there is still fessin' up to do.  (Kira, I am with you on the 8000 time outs and potty training insanity making little to no margin in life.  Also?  Happy went from a solid daily 3 hour nap to a solid daily fight/struggle to nap.  I'm worn out.)

The first fess up of the day is courtesy of our neighbors.  I feigned taking a picture of Lil Miss to get a pic of what was in their front yard.

 
Just a recliner with no seat cushion.
Everyday, it is entertaining to see what is in their yard.  Most recently I have spotted a vacuum cleaner, a basketball goal (like mangled and crushed-like....not usuable),  and an antique plow.  Fortunately, most stuff gets moved.  Eventually.

They are nice folks.  Just not particularly tidy. 
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We went out to eat recently.  I packed Lil Miss's baby food, but forgot the baby spoon.  We were at a mexican restaurant (one of those build your own burrito places) and they didn't have any spoons.  And Lil Miss was h.u.n.g.r.y. 

So, naturally, I fed Lil Miss with the handle of a plastic knife.

She was ok with it.

On a similar note, Lil Miss is starting to show some sass and personality.  And agenda, as Hubs put it.  Here she is earlier today grabbing Happy's feet and trying to put them in her mouth.  I cannot confirm or deny whether any feet went into her mouth.  Except they did.  Happy just let her do it while he happily watched a show about "err-pwanes".

On said "err-pwane" show, there is a segment about rockets (?? because they are clearly airplanes ??).  Anywho, maybe it is the potty training stuff, but I felt compelled to google how exactly it is that astranauts pee in space.  It seemed like it would be a messy endeavor without that handy gravity thing working for you.  Doesn't sound easy.  It definitely gave me the willies.  Something about suction cups.  I stopped reading.  I just wanted to make sure they didn't have to use catheters.  I couldn't handle much more info than the basics. 

Hubs said now google will forever have me recorded as having searched for such things.  And that's ok with me.  Because I cleary needed to know.

Happy Friday!

I Can't Help But Wonder...

I am not sure if it is the time of year or a coincidence, but I am noticing a lot of dead deer on the side of the road lately. 

As in hit by a car.  Missing legs. Decapitated. Blood. Lots of blood.

Well, today, as I was merging onto the expressway to hit up my local Sonic (and do other, more productive errands, thank.you.very.much), I see a dead deer that had been there for several days.  There were skid marks on the road, blood and nastiness everywhere.

It wasn't pretty, folks.

Right as I am completing my merge next to the deer, a car suddenly swerves over to the emergency lane (where the deer is) and starts backing up towards the deer.  It appears that he is going to inspect the deer.

I have no idea what he was planning on doing.  To give him the benefit of the doubt, he could very well be an animal lover seeing if he could help the deer (the deer was clearly dead, but maybe he didn't realize it?).  But, I couldn't help but wonder if he had another agenda.

I read this yesterday and just wondered.  Could he be wanting some road kill casserole?

Surely not.

Right?

Anyone have any normal ideas of what he may have been doing?

We Belong in the Zoo

Happy, my mom, and I went to the zoo a few weeks ago. 

Happy and "Gree" (Grammy)

Lil Miss stayed with my in-laws.  

Don't feel too bad for her.  I am confident that she got more than her fair share of love and attention.  

And spoiling.

I even managed to score some free passes from our county library system, so I was a bit tickled with myself that we got in free of charge.  Without the passes, it would have cost us about $45 for general admission.

Holla!

Happy kept trying to sit in the Gorilla statue's lap.  He just couldn't get quite comfortable.

Running during our lunch "break"

Petting Zoo Area

They had a little train to ride.  A clear highlight of his day. He is not wanting to leave the train in this pic.

 

The carousel.  My mom always loves the carousel rides whenever we see them. I am glad she got to take Happy on one.

 

 

 

Playground area.

"Boo Bus" at playground.  Good times.

Funny side story: I have mentioned Happy's love for "boo buses" in previous blog posts.  As we were driving to meet my mom to head to the zoo, we see this massive caravan of like 10 "boo buses" on the expressway.  Happy was screaming in delight.  I admit that I first thought, "I kinda hope they aren't going to the zoo."  But then I realized the likelihood of them going to the zoo as being miniscule considering we were headed towards the downtown part of our city and that there were countless places that they could legitimately be going.

For whatever reason, I noticed one of the bus's numbers. I thought it would be an easy bus number for kids to remember.  Once we arrived at the zoo and were getting out of our car, there were many school buses in the parking lot (which I assumed there would be). Happy kept announcing their presence with great delight and squeals. I mentioned to my mom how we had seen so many buses on the expressway before we picked her up and joked that I kind of worried they were going to the zoo.  I told her of the bus number that I noticed.  Right at that moment, mom looked up and the very school bus I mentioned drove by. 

Isn't that kinda nuts?!  We were about 35 minutes away from the zoo when I saw those buses.  There were probably 25-50 other places they very well could have been going.  And right as I told my mom that story, that very bus drove by.  Craziness.

And yes, there were lots of wound up school kids running around like animals.  Appropriate being that we were at the zoo.

Anyways, it was a great day! 

Happy zonked out as soon as we were in the car.

Cruciferous Love

I am hungry.

I have brussels sprouts roasting in the oven. (Good news!  They had brussels sprouts at Costco!  I ask you, can it get much better than bulk brussels sprouts roasting in your oven? I think not.)

I bought 2 bags, which is 4 pounds.  I wanted more, but I had to exhibit some measure of self control.

(Why are they brussels sprouts? In the plural?)

I can hardly wait for their tasty goodness to finish roasting, so I am blogging to distract myself.

So hold onto your hats for some utter randomness.

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My gauge for how I am handling life's stresses is storage containers.  If I feel compelled to buy them and buy many of them, I know that I'm feeling overwhelmed.

Lately, I have had to fight the urge lately to buy containers. 

But, I had victory!

There is nary a new storage container in this house.

At least this week.

Don't ask about last.

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Look at these cuties, aren't they precious? 

We are waiting for our requisite free kiddie cookie.

I bit the bullet a few weeks ago and got this beast, the racing car shopping cart.  I needed to get more items than usual, so I was hoping it would hold more.  Can you believe it actually held less?  I didn't realize it until they were loaded in, but it was lacking the bascart thingy.  You know, the thing under the cart.  That is where I put most things.  It was too late to go back and get a regular cart because Happy was LOVING the car aspect.

It was quite difficult to steer.  I ran into several things.

Just a few end caps.  No biggie.

By the end of the trip, Lil Miss was positively buried under all the groceries.

- - - - - - - 

(For the readers without kids, Potty Training Alert!)

We've had some great pooping in the potty success with Happy lately.  Bribery works, my friends.

Anywho, Happy has been getting up in the morning and going to the potty, then coming to knock on our door.  Hubs is already up at that point, doing work (He's in IT, so he has to check network viability each morning.  Do I sound like I know what I am talking about?  Not a clue.).  He listens out for Happy, but some mornings Happy is extra quiet and Hubs doesn't realize that Happy is up.

The other morning, Hubs heard Happy up.  Hubs hurried to go check on him (to make sure no potty shenanigans were happening).

Right as Hubs opened the door, he sees Happy coming to our door with a filled potty seat in hand.  Right at that moment, Happy's kryptonite, a boo bus (school bus) drove by.  Happy was looking out the window at it in utter excitement as the contents of the potty spilled out on the floor.  Poor Hubs.

- - - - - - -  

I'll leave you on a less gross note, more sweet kiddie cuteness.

A boy and mud.  A wonderful thing.

My sweet owl.

Blessed beyond measure,
'licious.

Seriously?

Am I really supposed to hire them?

Dun-Rite Home Repairs?

Doesn't the business name negate what they are promoting?

Or is it just me?

(Before you get too concerned about their business model, they did in fact provide a phone number.  I just blocked it out.)

Late to the Party

Hubs says I am late to this party on this, but I LOVE this video.  Have you guys seen it yet? 

When I saw it last night, it had like 700,000 views.  Now it is over 1 million in 12 hours or so.

I am having a challenging afternoon, but I paused to watch this video again and share the love with you all. 

I implore you, watch it.  You won't be sorry.

What a precious and endearing couple.

(And I'm sorry if the video shows up twice, blogger is acting strangely and I don't have the time to figure it out).

Underwear Blowing in the Wind

Yes. Hello.

Long time, no?

I have been knee-high in potty training.

Both literally and figuratively.

And our dryer broke.

Which is perfect timing considering I am doing a lot of laundry with the potty training shenanigans.

Have I mentioned I also do cloth diapers with Lil Miss?

And that the Hubs prefers to go to work with clean clothes? Or, to be more specific, clothes that are both clean AND dry?

The irony of it all is that I purchased a new washer and dryer for us last week.  Because I knew we were on borrowed time with our current ones. But the washer and dryer were not in stock.  No worries, I said, we can wait a week.

(HA!)

Even (un)funnier is that I got a call from the appliance store on Thursday saying that the dryer was in stock but the washer was not. I could choose to go ahead and have them deliver the dryer and then bring the washer at a later time or just do it all at once.  I decided to wait and do it all at once. Dude on phone said, "Cool. Got it."

Then, an hour later, another call came from the appliance store saying that they would be delivering my dryer Friday. I told the lady about the conversation I had an hour prior. She said, "Oh, ok, then go with that first conversation. They must be right."

Then, on Friday morn, I got a call from the delivery guy saying he was running early and could he swing by now(?!) to deliver. I told him I didn't want the dryer and washer delivered separately.

(I mean, why destroy the laundry room for one delivery just to do it a few days later?! Right?)

(HA.)

So, basically, I had to shove my dryer back at them until the washer was in stock.  Refuse it, even.

Friday night, the dryer officially broke.  Oh, the irony.

So, we are kickin' it old school here and drying the clothes on a clothesline.

Except that we have no clothesline.

Just lawn furniture.  

And toys.

Classy, I know.

Happy thought it was pretty cool that his "po-wease caaar" had an extra snazzy roof.

There is always a silver lining!

Funny Tales of Mr Happy as of Late

This is more for me to remember than anything, but I have found Happy exceptionally humorous as of late. I do realize that people often think their kid is funnier, smarter, cuter, etc than other kids and fully acknowledge that tendency.

But, Happy?  He truly is.  To me, anyways.

Here's a sampling of recent funtivities.

Today, we were at the store and the kids were on the brink of a meltdown.  In a panic, I gave Happy my phone to keep him occupied for the last 3 minutes while I paid for our items.  He started laughing hysterically.  He likes to laugh (hence, his pen name), so I didn't think too much of it at first.  But when he starting practically falling out of the shopping cart laughing, I finally looked to see what he was doing on my phone.

He had found his way into my photo/video library and was repeatedly watching a video I had taped of him dancing to music.  His "dancing" includes spinning in circles until he is so dizzy he just collapses.

I just love that he found himself hilarious.  It's a gift to not take yourself too seriously.

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Another funny (and smart, I think) thing happened last night.  I was pushing him and Lil Miss on the swing.  Happy likes to do the following while he swings: He says the ABC's, counts to 20, and then lists everyone important in his immediate circle.  In that order.  Always.  Much like the Pavlov Dog Cookie Monster happenings.

The list of important people includes family members, family pets, friends, and some key characters in his life.  You know, Elmo, Thomas the Train, Lightning McQueen, etc.

I have two brother-in-laws. Or is it brotherS-in-law?  Anyways, one of them is named Jay.  When Happy got to the part where he lists Jay in his important people list, he got a slightly confused look on his face and then said, "K, L, M" ? He appeared to be confused as to why a letter ("J") was someone's name.

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Happy tends to be loud.  What 2 year old isn't, I guess?  Whenever Lil Miss is sleeping and we are near her room, I quietly tell him, "Shhh..." and put my index finger over my mouth, training him to be respectful when others are sleeping and need quiet.

Well, that has evolved into him letting me know when she is asleep in the car or in her infant carrier at the store by saying, "Shhh..." and putting his index finger over his mouth.  It starts out with a quiet and simple enough "Shhh..." and, if I am not watchful, turns very quickly into an ever-increasingingly loud, "SSSSSHHHHHHHH" and then rocking her violently in her car seat.  The whole purpose of the "Shhh" becomes null and void when he is so loud and violent with her when he wakes her up.  He is attempting to be sweet, but I don't think it always sweet for her to be abruptly woken up.

Happy Tuesday, my friends!

'licious

Hot Tea and Plaid Blankets

Sweet Hubs and I went out tonight.   It was fun to have time just with him. I ordered hot tea with my dinner.  Which is caffeine overload for me. (Sonic sodas just don't pack the same caffeine punch.) I am still riding on that wave of caffeine many hours later. I fear I won't be falling asleep for hours and am not even sure Benadryl could knock me out at this point.  Even a double-dose.

And Hubs broke out the much-hated plaid blanket.  Because it is only mid 90s with like 85% humidity. So, you know, frigid. And ever-so necessary.

On another note, we are finally getting our privacy fence installed tomorrow!

How do you know when you are old?  When you are excited about a fence, my friends.

More what I am excited about it keeping the weird behavior of neighborhood kids (and adults) out of our yard.  I have seen many disturbing things in our yard over the years.

Recently, I have come across barbie's leg, barbie's shaved head, spiderman's leg, and garfield's head. We have had clogged gutters with (toy) car parts.  I have witnessed a young man running shirtless through our yard as if he was running from something (like the law!).

It's time to keep the crazy out, people.

Or at least the crazy that doesn't live here. And for that, I am ecstatic.

Snuffaluffacow?

The other day, I took the kids to a local farm to feed the goats.  We have gone several times before.  And we have only seen and fed goats. No other creatures.

The land is fairly flat and the fenced in area is rather small.  In other words, you can pretty much see all of the area and all of the animals in the fenced in area.

After we had been there for about 30 minutes and were running low on stale tortilla chips food for the goats, I turned around to the car to get some stale veggie chips more food for the goats.  I kid you not, when I turned around 4 seconds later, this curious creature had appeared out of nowhere.

Seriously, out of NOWHERE!

And what the heck is it?  

As you can see, Happy is perplexed as well.

It kind of looked like a cross between snuffaluffagus and a cow. 

I guess it is a cow?  I have no idea. And I feel like I should know.  I googled "Hairy Cow" and didn't find much.  The most I can gather is that it is a long-haired cow?  

Regardless, it made for an interesting morning.  

Happy is telling Hairy Cow about the plane overhead.
Hairy Cow just wants the food.

And the cow graced me with a big lick when I was bending down trying to help Happy.  He was so strange looking that he was endearing.  

Has anyone else seen such a creature?

Our Very Own Pavlov's Dog

You guys are familiar with Pavlov's Dog, right?  The whole conditioned response thing?

My husband was unfamiliar with the term, but once I referenced an Office episode which illustrated the concept, he realized he knew of it.

Speak their language, my friends.  Speak their language.


The Office - Pavlov's dog from Rauno Villberg on Vimeo.

Please watch the embedded video for reference and for your viewing pleasure.  It is delightful.

Anyways, a couple of months ago, on a Saturday morning when Hubs and I were particularly tired, and the kids were up and ready to party eat breakfast, Hubs decided to just bring Happy into our bedroom, plop him on our bed, turn on a video and give Happy some cheerios.

At the time, that seemed like a brilliant thing to do, given how tired we were.

On that particular day, Hubs just grabbed the closest DVD, which happened to be a Cookie Monster one.  It was wonderful.  Hubs and I could try wake up while still giving Happy some semblance of breakfast.

We liked the system so much that we did it the following few Saturdays.

Well, now any time Happy goes into our bedroom, he says, "coooooo-key" and turns the TV on, hands me the DVD remote to play the video, climbs onto our bed and requests cheerios.  In that order.

Every. Single. Time.

Multiple. Times. A. Day.

No video substitutions are allowed, nor are any snack substitutions.

It has to be Cookie Monster and it has to be Cheerios.

Exhibit A

Please note the green cover.  NO PLAID BLANKET that day!

And usually I am trying to get ready or put laundry away or something, so I oblige him.  The video is less than 20 minutes.

I have teased him saying that he is Pavlov's dog.

(Like he knows what I am talking about.)

(Or maybe he does.)

(He has taught himself the alphabet letters and their sounds. He knows how to work our tv better than I do. I am afraid I have taught him he has already taught himself everything I know.)

Exhibit B

Just today, we walked into our bedroom and before I even realized what happened, I had the cheerios in hand to give him.

I guess I am really the one who is Pavlov's dog, huh?