today. . .

He sat outside while waiting for the bus. Right on the sidewalk. I found him there when Luke and I finally made it outside.

Hey. What's up?

He didn't turn around. Do you hear the birds? That one right now. He sings two times. And then changes his song. Like a pattern. Why does he do that?

Love that. Love that he takes time to listen. To be in touch with the outdoors. Loving nature. And birds.

And today he goes to the Sports Center in Pittsburgh for his first field trip since Kindergarten. And he is so very excited.

And his tooth fell out yesterday. Twisted it right out during the spelling pretest. [Too cute.] His "special tooth", he told the tooth fairy in a note. His "meat eating tooth". Told her to be careful with it. Love that. It's the tooth that had his first cavity (first and only. . .). The one I agonized with as they gave him a shot in the mouth. That he was so very brave with. Only to have that filling fall out six months later. Ugh. And the dentist wanted to have me take him to a surgeon to have it pulled. Really? I know the agony I went through having a tooth pulled. And I waverd, wanting to spare him that fear and pain. So I waited. Knowing it was just a baby tooth; that it would fall out soon. And it did. Yesterday. And I breathe a heavy sigh of relief.

You are such a joy.

at the bus stop. . .

I awoke to the furnace buzzing downstairs. A glance at the thermometer told me it was 68 indoors. . . and 63 outside. Maybe I should open the windows?. . .It's almost as warm outside as it is in . . . Woke up the boys. Usual breakfast. Usual Monday morning. . . Ethan still snoozing. Luke unhappy that his eyes are leaking. Jaxon awake, sort of. Outside we wait. Listening to the birds. Friday at the bus stop it snowed. We wore winter coats and the boys tried to catch the tiny bits on their tongues. This morning, however, we are outside without coats. Ready for spring. [It's 65 degrees farenheit, Luke informs us before we head out the door.] A squirrel scampers across the telephone wires down the hill from us. We watch him. Amazed. He marvel at his skill. Thinking him a circus performer. A tightrope walker. Wondering where he learned these secret, mystifying skills. We wonder how he got up so high. And where he might be headed. We muse that maybe the telephone pole has a squirrel-sized elevator to help him get to that very tippy top. And that the "can" at the top of the pole hides his secret squirrel clubhouse. Sweet imaginings before the bus arrived. A wonderful way to start an ordinary Monday.

and one more right before bedtime. . .

Are you licking the dog?

the missing handbook. . .

They never tell you about real parenthood when you are expecting that magical first baby. The real stuff.

Poops that smells worse than a truck stop.

Boys who won't sleep through the night for three years.

You know, the essentials.

I would love to add a chapter to that missing handbook. Stuff that you would never dream would come out of your mouth. Words that have never before been strung together to make a meaningful sentence.

Stuff like:

Get your finger out of the pit bull's eye.

Followed by, Don't hit the dog in the head with a hockey stick.

And, this morning's favorite: Your eyes will stop leaking if you stop crying. [Can you hear the wailing where you are?]

Today is Wacky Wednesday. . .

According to Luke's Kindergarten calendar, in their two week Seussabration (totally made that one up. . .I think it's a keeper. . .Sam, on the other hand, might groan. . .anyway, they have been celebrating two weeks of Dr. Seuss).


So, he had to dress Wacky. . .hence, Wacky Wednesday. . .


Well, in true Wacky Wednesday form, I slept through this morning's alarm. . . which goes off twice just to make sure you wake up. . .

I woke up, however, at 7:22. . . Exactly 27 minutes after the alarm goes off. . .
[must have something to do with going to sleep after 11:13. . .waking up 45 minutes later to a crying Ethan who went to bed in his regular clothes and was cold. . .put him in his jammies and came back to bed 45 minutes later. . .wide awake. . .woke back up to a coughing Ethan at 12:30....gave him cough medicine and fell back asleep an hour later. . .back up at 5 am for more coughing and medicine. . .]

Jumped out of bed, heart racing, bleary-eyed, and tripping over Max. . .who just looked at me with one eye and groaned. Me too.....

Rushed to Jack's room: Get up!!!! Get up!!!! I overslept!!!!!

And Luke's room. He was not pleased. And had no sympathy for my oversleeping plight.

We made it in time for the bus.

And Ethan slept in until 8:30. He spent the morning playing quietly. Happily. Obviously trying to lull me into a false sense of security.



I ran upstairs to get some laundry. And came down to find maple syrup from the Cracker Barrel all over the entry carpet.

Sigh. . .


There's a moral to the story here somewhere.

. .they won! . . ! . . . ! .

After a whole season. . . with only one tie. . .

Those cute little boys won their first hockey game. And Jack almost scored a goal. So very cute. After his first "trip" out on the ice send him flying in one direction, and his stick in the other direction (about 9 feet).

My favorite part. . .

They all skated out on the ice and pile into one big [little] boy pile right in front of their goal net. And now their season ends. With a smile.

february's end. . .

This morning, thunder shook the house.. .. ..

I heard the rain in the night, Luke said at the breakfast table.

I heard it too. . .Great lightning flashes. Thundery growls. All night long. Crazy weather for February.

This morning I was sure that Spring was on it's way. Rain announcing that winter's rein was over. Plans for buds and blooms on her agenda.

And now, I see the fat flakes of snow flying outside my kitchen window. Bright white against the brown trees in the backyard. . .