Oven Fry

Our little one did something spectacular a few days ago. He was goofing off in the kitchen, where we have child safety devices on all the important cabinets and drawers. A couple of cabinets we have left available for him to play in, as we have with each of our children. The pots and pans are left unlocked because they present no real problem, and the canned goods pantry (which I converted from a fold-out ironing board) is fun for him because he can open it and roll soup cans across the floor.

Mrs. Scott heard him messing around and went in to see him. He had opened the oven door and climbed up on top of the door, and was playing with the oven rack and with the gas knobs. He had the most adventurous kind of grin on his face, as in, "look at what I did, mommy!" The oven was cold, so nothing wrong happened. From now on he'll be in his play pen when dinner is being cooked.

My Water Broke

Yesterday, Mrs. Scott called to tell me that a strange fountain of flowing water was coming up out of the ground in the back yard, near the fence, and was flowing into the neighbor's fish pond. Could I please come home from work. The neighbor turned our water main off, and it stopped within five minutes. My parents were on their way over as well. So, I grabbed a pile of work and went home. Just before leaving, my boss diagnosed the problem: "you bought an older home."

I arrived home and we did some investigation. A sprinkler pipe that had been buried by a previous owner burst and water was leaking out. There was a T fitting with both pipes broken off. It was packed with dirt. It had been connected to the sprinkler main in the front yard and was subject to water pressure for four years, at least. It just took four years for the dirt to spring a leak. The dirt was all that was preventing a flood. We capped the pipe off, and I offered the neighbor the cleaning up of the mess. With this discovery, we may be able to use the existing pipes without having to do a full blown sprinkler system in the back yard.

Granola

Our six year old: "Mommy, can I have some candy?" "Mommy, can I have a popsicle?" "Mommy, can I have some soda?"

Our three year old: "mommy, can I have some cucumber?" "Mommy, can I have a tomato?" "Mommy, can I have some broccoli?"

Speaking of French

Our eleven month old has learned how to kiss. We've been kissing him good night, etc., ever since he was born. He opens his mouth wide and sticks his tongue out so that he can kiss. It's pretty wet, like a French kiss.

Speaking French

A few nights ago we were on the metro train on our way to a ballgame. Our six year old wasn't holding on so we told him to grab a bar. "What would happen?" he asked. I answered, "The train will stop quickly and you will fall to the floor and your head will hit the floor and crack open and your brains will spill out all over the floor and we'll have to pick up your brains and stuff them back into your head." Mrs. Scott quickly added, "and they'll be scrambled so you'll only be speaking French."

Baby Ketchup

Our nearly one year old is only one pound lighter than our three and a half year old. His diapers are tighter also. (Our three and a half year old is successfully potty training and doesn't wear a diaper anymore, so this was true recently). The little one is still shorter, but beefier. He's ketching up. Soon, he'll be bigger than his brother. Last night some people on the train asked who was the older one. Mrs. Scott thinks that was a dumb question, because our baby still looks like a baby, while our toddler looks like a boy.

Peer Pressure

From the world of skiing: somebody who skis is a skier.
On seeing (spiritual or prophetic): somebody who sees is a seer.
About going pee: somebody who pees is a peer.

Yesterday for our kindergardener's last day of school, the class went to the park. One of the kids started daring and urging the others to pee in the bushes. Our son did. Now, that's what you call peer pressure.

My Eyes Are Boring

Mommy: "How come you're not tired?"
Three year old up past his bed time: "Because my eyes are boring."

Are We There Yet?

With all the trips in the car we've made over the years, it's funny that not one of our kids have ever asked, "Are we there yet?"

Commercial Breakfast

Our three year old was watching a cartoon in the morning. I fixed some toast for him to eat for breakfast. In our house we have a rule for the kids that they eat only at the dining room table. But the TV can't be seen from the table. So he figured out all for himself the best way to eat breakfast and watch his cartoon. Eat during the commercials.

Psalm 23

Our kindergartner is reading Psalm 23 by himself from a bible, to his mom, as I type. He is memorizing it in his class at school and has been learning to read this year. It is wonderful to see him and hear him do this. "Was I reading?" Yes, you were.

The Bullpen

If we don't want our youngest to get into things while we are busy with something else, we put him in his play pen. As a baseball family I wonder why it took us so long to come up with a nickname for the playpen: The Bullpen

Walker

Our eleven month old has been walking. He is now a proficient walker. He can walk across an entire room and even into the next. He isn't perfect, but he crawls a lot less now. He falls back on his bum a lot less, and he can stand for long periods of time. He can now stand with his bigger brothers, like today at the screen door when the mailman came.

Beddie Bye

All three of our young ones fell asleep within just a minute or two of being put to bed. That's almost unbelievable. Somebody is usually awake for a while.

Tres Sickos

All three of the kids are sick this weekend. Mrs. Scott had a terrible cold last week. Each one has at least one malady, with stuff flowing out from everywhere. Mrs. Scott worked in the church nursery, so I stayed home to be with them.

Big People's Cartoons

On Friday, our three year old was watching a cartoon on TV, when at the end of the cartoon, about noon, the next program came on. It was a political talk show. "I don't like big people cartoons."