He's Serious

Flynn: Drake, I want some pretzels.
Me: Flynn, what is the "P" word Drake needs to hear?
Flynn: Paleontologist.
Me: hahahahahahaha
Flynn: [a little hurt]  You don't have to laugh about it, Mommy.
Me: But, it was a funny joke.
Flynn: It wasn't a joke.  I'm serious.

Where's the pause button?

I have a few minutes before the next class begins to sit still.  I haven't been able to do this much lately.  The new quarter started, and with it, I am teaching two classes and the business starts in nine schools.  Momentum is building.  I've never been so happy to be so stressed out. 

Christmas time

The holiday season has become so much more interesting, now that the boys are older.  They still aren't completely greedy about gifts... yet.  Drake had no idea what to ask Santa to bring him.  Flynn knew, without hesitation.  Taking them shopping was far less painful this year than in years past.  Flynn went with Dad and I on our Black Friday zero-dark-thirty ritual.  He was quite a trooper and knew exactly what he wanted to buy for Daddy and Drake.  (He also fell asleep at 3:30 pm and slept until the next morning.)  Drake is still learning that gift giving is about the other person.  The stuff he wanted to buy Tim and Flynn- let's just say Mommy has veto power.

One of the differences in having a child attend Catholic school is he/she learns about St. Nickolaus and his feast day.  The kids decorate shoes and get treats.  We (as a family) also went to Bruno's to celebrate.  (Mmmm... schnitzel....)  On the way, Drake told me that Santa Claus is St. Nickolaus's helper.  Sure.  OK.  We'll go with that.  Not sure how he pieced that together, but it works for me.

We took the boys to Fantasy Lights.  It's like ZooLights, only you stay in your car and drive around the see the displays.  As we pulled into the park, Flynn says, "Ooooo... it's so beau-ti-ful!"  This was the most they both have been into the displays.  Such a fun time.

We aren't stressing about the season too much.  We have enough to stress about, so we have no intention of having something within our control freak us out.  If we do it, we do it.  If not, oh well.  This is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year, if you believe everything you hear in song lyrics.  Might as well keep it that way.  :)

Flynn's Latest Song

Everybody get dressed (except for birds)
Everybody get dressed (except for birds)
Everybody get dressed (except for birds)
Everybody get dressed (except for birds)
Everybody get dressed (except for birds)
Everybody get dressed (except for birds)
Everybody get dressed (except for birds)
Everybody get dressed (except for birds)
Everybody get dressed (except for birds)
Everybody get dressed (except for birds)
Everybody get dressed (except for birds)
Everybody get dressed (except for birds)
Everybody get dressed (except for birds)
Everybody get dressed (except for birds)
Everybody get dressed (except for birds)
Everybody get dressed (except for birds)
Everybody get dressed (except for birds)
Everybody get dressed (except for birds)
Bird
Bird
Bird
Bird
Bird
Bird
Bird
Bird
Bird
Bird
Bird
Bird
Brid, bird bird, the bird is the word

And, repeat...

The weather

Drake: Mommy, why is it raining?
Me: Why do you think it is raining, honey?
Drake: Because we live in Washington?

That's Interesting

I took the boys for a nice long walk, and insisted they take along their cameras.  I instructed them to take a picture of anything they found interesting.  I wanted a little glimpse of what it's like inside their heads, how they think, how they see the world.

Here is a selection from Drake's camera. I did not realize that he took 100 pictures on our 45 minute walk.
Seriously...100 pictures. Drake took pictures of everything! The entire walk is documented, including which route we took.

Here are some of Flynn's pictures.
Flynn gave up after the first block. He was much more interested in the stray dog we discovered (that ended up following us for a half a mile). I particularly enjoy which items they both found interesting.

OSHA would not approve

We moved the boys' playhouse onto the deck, under the shade of the vines.  Since then, they have been spending lots of time in it, or on it, as the case may be.  For the last couple of days, they have been making improvements to their "business": hammering away, fixing the roof and the pipes, and adding a vacation house to the side.  They have been "selling" water and snacks from their business, and closing for lunch and snack times.

They make me smile.