In The Tub

Danny:  I'm the captain.

Matthew:  Okay, I'm the first mate.

Danny:  No, I want to be first.

Matthew:  You are first, the first mate comes after the Captain.

Danny:  How about you're the second mate and I'm the first mate.

Matthew:  No I'm the first mate, you're the Captain.

Danny:  But I want to be first.

Matthew:  How about you be the skipper?  He steers the boat.

Danny:  No, I'm the first mate WHO IS the Captain.

Matthew:  Danny, they're two different things, the Captain comes before the first mate and the first mate comes before all the other mates.

Danny:  How about I be the guy who serves the hot dogs?  Do you want mustard or skabetti sauce?

Matthew:  Plain.

Today Matthew's leg fell asleep in the car.

"Oh!  My Leg!  It's sizzling!"

Thanks For The Reminder.

Joe:  Isn't it cool how some of the most ordinary animals can do amazing things?  Like squirrels...  they plant whole forests when they bury their acorns.

The People in Your Neighborhood

Matthew:  All the mailman does is deliver mail, but they have a LOT of work to do.
Danny:  Yeah.  And so do police-s.  And you know what police-s do?   HAND-COFF PEOPLE.
Matthew:  Yeah.  And help people who are lost.
Danny:  Yeah.
Matthew:  Yeah.
Danny:  AND!  Catch bad guys.
Matthew:  Yeah.  And keep bad guys from chasing people.

Lately

It's that rare moment when I'm up before my kids.  This has maybe happened twice in seven years, and while I like the idea of starting my day with peace and quiet, sleep trumps everything.

That inward-turning end-of-pregnancy thing is happening and I haven't had much to say/post as I get ready for this new little guy.  I've been trying to do a better job of preparing the boys for what to expect, and now that it's the third time around I think I have a good idea of what they need to know.  Information often comes to me at dinner or in the car.  Yesterday I realized that I hadn't told them about the possibility that they could wake up in the morning and Chris and I would be gone at the hospital, which is obviously important to know.

Anyway, I think they're ready.  The co-sleeper is ready.  The car seat is ready.  The diapers are ready.  I'm HALMOST (Danny's word for "almost") ready...

I only have one more goal that I want to complete before the baby arrives now that I've finished this quilt for the peeps who fixed my computer...

Here's Danny watching it spin...

And here it is all wrapped up...

This thing was huge and there were a few times when I was cramming it through my machine when I thought it might put me into labor, but I finished it on Tuesday.  It's king-sized.
Speaking of labor, here's a list of things that haven't put me into labor yet...
1.  Unloading 8 bags of groceries.
2.  Kneading bread.
3.  Vacuuming.
4.  Basting a king-sized quilt.
5.  Putting snow-gear on Danny.

Yesterday Danny and I had this exchange...
Me:  Okay, "Thumb in the thumb hole, fingers all together, this is the song we sing for mitten weather."
Danny:  (shoves whole hand into mitten)
Me:  No, start over.  Put your thumb in here.  No.  Here, stick your thumb out.  Now put it in here.  No, here, make a fist, now put your thumb in here.  Feel this spot?  That's where your thumb goes.  No, put it in here.  Feelthehole?That'swhereyouputyourthumb. Dannyrighthereputyourthumbno,stickoutyourthumbputyourthumbin (This goes on for three to five minutes.)
Danny:  (Looks straight in the eye, calmly,)  I don't care about this.
Me:  Oh...    ...  ...  Okay.  (crams hand into mitten and sends him on his merry way.)

Dear Mattie,

You've been cracking us up lately:

Me (noticing the dirt that has collected on his neck):  Matthew, you need to take a shower.

Matthew:  NOOOO!

Me (trying to reason):  Go look in the mirror at your neck.

Matthew (returning from mirror):  Mom, see?  I just wiped the dirt necklace off!  No problem!

Last week you put your baseball hat on sideways and told Dad, "Okay, I'm ready to go!" and then walked sideways in the direction that your hat was pointing out the door.

Then last night you told us about a dream you had where you found yourself looking over the edge of a boat  at a whale shark and you said, "I knew it was a whale shark because it had polka dots and because it was making this face...:"

Classic whale shark expression.

XOX,
Mom.

Also, I found this muffin in the storage thingy in the van.  I don't know how old it is, but I can't remember the last time I made muffins, so probably months and months old...

New Spot: There Will Be Mud

Dear Boys,

After three days of rain, it finally let up and this is what we found across the street in the park...

Skunk cabbage:

Deer paths:

Boot-sucking mud:

Many fallen trees:

Bright green moss:

A shell:

Stubborn thorns:

A vine around a stick:

Also, something else I want to remember:

Yesterday as I was getting Matthew out of the car at pick-up time, I saw a huge great blue heron flying over the school.  I looked over and spotted Joe sorting something out on the playground with a group of other kids.  I watched, hoping he would see it, even though he was involved in whatever this group of kids was deciding.  He must have seen it out of the corner of his eye because I could hear him shout from the other side of the playground,  pointing up at it, "HEY!  A sandhill crane!  NO!  A GREAT BLUE HERON!  GREAT BLUE HERON!"

Hey Mom

Dear Boys,
Some recent requests of me WHILE DRIVING:

Q:  Hey Mom, will you cut this string off my sock?
A:  I can't right now honey, because I'm driving.

Q:  Hey Mom, look at this bird (in the bird book)
A:  I can't look right now, because I'm driving.

Q  Hey Mom, can you look down in my ear?
A:  I can't look in your ear right now because I have to look at the road...  Because I'm driving the car.

Question RE: Land's End Down Vest

Joe:  Mom, is this vest bullet proof?

Danny Speak

Byko-byko =  Bicycle
Dinny =  Danny
Murn =  More
Ma-sheeou =  Matthew
Gratchy = Scratchy`

Let It Be Known

That Danny has learned to say "I ruff eeou...  ...  Mama," with a little pat on my cheek.

Valentine's Party

Some pictures from our Valentine party with the neighbors...

Chocolate truffles...

 Candle dipping...

 Extremely wonky candles which work just fine...

Then on Valentine's morning, we had this conversation:

Me:  Joe, do you want to wear this Valentine pin I made?

Joe:  Yeah!

Me:  (shocked that he agreed) Okay here.  Now go get your outside stuff on for school.

Joe:  Wait, you want me to wear this TO SCHOOL?  OUT LOUD???

Me:  It's a Valentine pin...  For Valentine's day!

Joe:  (Shaking head and laughing)  I am NOT wearing this to school.

Me:  Well at least let me get a picture...

Joe quotes

"You have two hairs."-- Meaning pigtails.

"1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,17,13,17,13,17,13,17,13,17"-- After being asked to count to 20.

"I rubbed my stuffy eyes off"-- Meaning I wiped my tears away.

"Mama bird, ur da best friend I ever seen"-- During a game we played where we made the bathroom into a nest.

"Airplanes have wheels, I don't have wheels."-- While scooting across the floor on stomach.

"PLANES! I'm glad to see you!"-- When first spotting his planes after waking up from nap.

"I really really want to see a humpback whale someday"-- Completely random.

"Everybody's listening about muscles"-- When describing what goes on at Chris' school.

"I wish I had a cat, but I'm a very lucky boy to have a dog"-- Random as well.

"I look beautiful"-- After putting on his snow boots.