Daddy is Home, by Huey

... as told to Mommy.

"We got in the car and we waited for Daddy. We saw Daddy come down the stairs and we hugged Daddy! I was happy! We went out for dinner. I ate hamburger and fries and Daddy had salad and we also had cheese... just cheese. We went home. Daddy watched Tom and Jerry with me. We played Candyland and Thomas the Tank Engine games. Dewey and Huey and Mommy and Daddy. All of us was the winner. I am happy Daddy is HOME!"
So there you go. Daddy's return in a nutshell. Huey can say in 10 sentences or less, what would take me eight paragraphs to write. Huey say's "you're welcome".

Happy Birthday Huey!

Huey's 4th birthday was yesterday. He is such a big boy now. I can't believe how fast these four years went. Seems like yesterday he was this tiny little bundle of love! Where did this big kid come from?

We celebrated by taking him to San Jose for chips and cheese dip. I did order real food, but for the boys it's all about the cheese dip. (Hey... It just occurred to me that the cheese dip at San Jose is WHITE... GASP! How could this be? My children devoured non-orange cheese???)

Anyway - we went to dinner... just the boys and I, and they were really, really good! So good that I am at a loss for material. But one funny thing did happen. While at the restaurant, Huey was trying to tell me about his finger that somehow got cut, or smashed, or bit... i don't know.. something. Anyway he waves his middle finger high in the air and yells... "THIS FINGER RIGHT HERE"! I spewed Coke all over the table! For once the mess I had to clean up was made by ME!

After dinner we came home and had a tiny little birthday cake and opened a gift from "Auntie Kelli with the Black Hair". A Thomas train of some sort. Huey LOVES IT... of course! And Dewey tries to steal it. You'd think that 3 million trains in this house would be enough... but no... Dewey must have the newest addition! Nothing else will do! Only the newest and the best... wait... kinda sounds like his mom. Oops!

Anyway - Huey had a wonderful birthday. He is such a delightful boy and I am truly blessed to be his mama!

And now the big news... Friday night after Huey's birthday party with his friends, we had a discussion about Christmas. He wanted to know all about baby Jesus and what it all meant. So I explained it as simply as I could and then he decided to ask Jesus into his heart. He prayed after me and he made it official. Huey explains it this way, "Jesus in my heart"! There are no words better than those! I realize he's too young to truly understand what this means. But it's a really good start!
Happy Birthday, Huey!
Mommy loves you so much!

Gross or Not Gross?

Today I decided that I NEEDED to vacuum the nasty carpet! I know... you're all shocked! When on Earth have I actually vacuumed on "awesome housekeeper's" off week? Well, the kids did a totally superior job in trashing the place after housekeeper left.... but that's another blog entry entirely. So I am vacuuming... And I decide that if I'm going to make this very rare effort, I might as well give it my all. So I MOVED the furniture and everything. This was not just your everyday vacuum job... this was "super-mom-discovers-she-actually-owns-a-vacuum-and-must-find-out-how-this-strange-contraption-works!" Anyway... as I move the coffee table, we learn that a cookie has been living under there for... well... a very long time. Who really knows how long. So, as I'm vacuuming I say to Dewey, "Hey Baby, can you get that cookie and...." (I have to pause mid-sentence, because before I can say, "throw it in the trash"... the cookie is gone and "icky-boy" is happily chewing really old... most likely very stale... possibly moldy... disgusting cookie!") So I would call that "GROSS". But that got me thinking... my kids and I have very different ideas of what is and is not gross. Here is a sample of what my precious boys believe to be gross or not gross.

Roast Chicken and Mashed Potatoes: Gross
McDonald's Chicken Nuggets: Not Gross

Mozzarella, Provolone, Swiss or any other"non-orange" cheese: Really Gross
Nasty processed American "Squirt Cheese" in a can: Not Gross.

Spaghetti Sauce: TOTALLY Nasty Gross
Boogers (old or new, wet or dry, any color): Not Gross. Quite tasty, in fact!

Steak: Gross, gross, gross, gross!
Old french fries under the car seat: Deliciously non-gross

Scrambled eggs: So gross they are horrified at the thought.
Finger painting with poop: A totally cool form of artistic expression... oh.. and very NON gross!

I could go on and on... but I think the point is clear. I live in bizzaro world. What I believe to be disgusting is actually very, very cool! So I've decided to re-think how I approach dinner time. Perhaps a steaming plate of.... oh never mind... That's just entirely too gross to even type! :o)

Huey, Dewey & Louie Go To Michael's

The following story is true... I swear! It is not exaggerated in any way. Even I could not make this up!

Yesterday I had some shopping to do at Michael's. Now, those of you with small children are aware that the aisles at Michael's are very narrow, making it impossible to place your stroller anywhere in the store that is out of reach of stuff! You can't even do the "put-your-stroller-in-the-center-of-the-aisle" trick... because that will only enable your precious, precious children to access stuff on both sides of the aisle. Hey Michael's people, listen up!

So we are in the candle aisle. Somebody... not sure which one... breaks a small glass votive candle holder. It goes splat all over the place. I'm standing there in a zillion shards of glass and trying to get the attention of someone to help. No such luck. So I push the stroller around the corner to the ribbon aisle and instruct Huey to "stay and watch your brothers"... I head off, in search of someone to inform about the glass. While I'm away Huey did, indeed, watch his brothers. He watched them "access" about 8 rolls of ribbon and throw the spools down the aisle, causing about 200 feet of ribbon to unravel all over the floor.

Now we have one aisle with broken glass, and one aisle nicely decorated with ribbon. Oh... but "we're" not done yet. As I am trying to re-roll 200 feet of ribbon, and Louie is continuing to throw more ribbon spools on the floor... more unraveling ... Huey comes to me and says "mom... I think there is something wrong with my foot". (just a side note... Huey is wearing his Lightning McQueen Crocs in December... because... well... that's what we do in South Carolina. ) Anyway... turns out, there is glass inside his shoe and his toe is bleeding. I frantically search my purse for a tissue... Band Aid... gauze pad... tourniquet... there is nothing. But then a light bulb goes off and I pull out..... wait for it..... a pantie-liner!

So I am kneeling on the floor of Michael's, holding a pantie-liner to my 4-year-old son's toe, while his brothers continue to "decorate" with ribbon and customers try to avoid glass on the next aisle. It occurs to me, "this is one of those 'mom' moments!". I start to laugh... and laugh... and start to cry because I find this so incredibly funny. Huey looks at me as if to say "why are you laughing... my toe is cut!" All I can tell him is... "I know you don't understand, but this is really, really funny". Then I put the pantie-liner inside his shoe and it is the perfect fit... Like some sort of Dr. Scholls-Lite-Days-Sole-Insert. We continue to shop, knowing that Huey has several hours of "protection".

Fast forward about 5 hours. It's bath time. I have totally forgotten the pantie-liner incident. Huey brings me his "sole insert" and he says to me, "Mom... my toe is all better. Thanks for the shoe band-aid." I'm on the floor laughing again..... The child just slays me!

And I'm certain we are no longer welcome at Michael's. :o)