Overheard

Back in the winter we were at the cemetery to visit my mom before heading home. It had been cold and there was hard packed snow that was quite deep. On the way, Steven and I were debating whether or not to bring John out of the car and over to my mom's headstone.

Me: It's cold but we can bundle him up. It won't be very long. One of us can carry him while the other one walks in front to make a path.
Me: There's a shovel in the trunk. You can shovel a path.
Steven: I am NOT walking into the cemetery with a shovel.

News At Eleven...

So last week we were watching the news and one of the catch lines for a story was something like "Cougar Alert in ___________" and then "Cougar Sighting".

So I turned to Steven and asked him what Barb was doing.

HAHAHAHA. So he called her.

Snackin' with Daddy

Chocolate covered ice cream novelties...probably not the best idea for a bedtime snack.

"Cheese"

Feeding John like he's a little bird. Poor guy.

Have a good night everyone!

Let's Do Lunch

Dawna, John & I went to Moxie's for lunch.

I like to make John try different foods. I don't want to raise a picky eater.

He's eating calamari. The tentacles part!

911, What is Your Emergency?

John loves this fire engine. Not only is it bright and red and on wheels. But it also makes noises. Very loud, realistic noises. He drives it around and managed to remove the ladder. And makes the people climb up and down the ladder.

And my dear son, John, is so very methodical and organized with his toys. Once he believes that certain toys belong together, then that is how it is. No excuses.

Like the fire ladder which is removable. Although tonight I tried to re-connect it and I couldn't snap it back on so as opposed to removable, it may actually be ...ahem...broken.

And I'm not sure if you noticed yet, but he doesn't believe that the strong sturdy fireman in the red fireman suit belongs with the fire engine. Rather Old Man Farmer with Shephard's Stick and Old Farmer's Wife with basket of eggs and head kerchief, belong in the pumper truck.

That's right.
Wouldn't you SHIT if these guys pulled up outside your burning house?

Wuss

Today I got the call that every parent dreads...

"Your son is a wuss."

As spoken by his father.

I responded with "did more bugs scare him? Was there another worm?"

They were outside and Steven put the sprinkler on so John could run thru it. John has never run thru the sprinkler before.

Steven: I picked him up and walked back and forth thru the water. He didn't like that his clothes were getting wet. He started making those noises.
Steven: So I stripped him down and put him in the sprinkler. He's wearing his sandals and his hat. And then he squatted in the grass by the water and his arms are out and he sort of cried. I held my arms out but he wouldn't move.
Me: Then what happened.
Steven: He came out. Now he's standing outside the reach of the water, holding his penis and watching the sprinkler.

Playground

On the first night that Dawna came to visit, we decided to take a drive to the park after supper. Steven thought that we'd try the parks that he usually bikes over to, which is two communities over. But since it was evening, both parks were super busy with families and some kids from the nearby soccer games. Then we thought about the school that's up the street from our house. And wondered if there might be a park there. So on the way home, we pulled off to check. And sure enough, there's a park specifically geared for little kids. It's fenced in with a latched gate. A park at the school that's RIGHT UP THE STREET. Yes, less than a block away. LESS THAN. We've lived in this house for almost 10 years and this school has been here for at least 5 years. When I was on maternity leave I walked by this school about 2-3 times per week on my walks to the lake. I swear, I've never seen this park before. Welcome to the neighborhood!

Preparing Dawna for Stampede. This is how we kick it.

I'm not sure if she lasted the full 8 seconds or not.

This park is great. The slides aren't very steep. The equipment is mostly rubber for safety.

John was so adorable. He's been on similar things at different parks but the "toys" were so much bigger. This one his feet could actually reach the posts.

And then he started to lean to one side.

And lean some more.

But he managed to climb off by himself.

Mom & John
I thought I might pull a Homer Simpson and get my fat ass stuck on the slide.

But we were fine.

Safe & sound at the bottom.

Steven, showing us how it's done.

I think we were all a bit worried that he might lean too far forward and snap the squirrel off.

Surprise! You're 40.

I have been planning this surprise since last year. The idea first came into my brain when we stayed at my uncle & aunt's house for mom's funeral. But truly, my brain wasn't really functioning again for a couple of months. Anyway, my uncle is an artist. He does these amazing sketches and paintings. And at the time (I think), he had just sold his first painting. Steven's always had an attachment to his Grandma's house and in his heart it symbolized so many things for him. I never had the honor of meeting Grandma but this was his home away from home and where his heart lay.

I was able to secretly send some photos of Grandma's house to Uncle Roy and he created this wonderful watercolor masterpiece for us. I was down in my hometown again in April and I picked up the painting and slyly transported it into our house.

Now here comes the tricky part. How to get it out of the house to be framed? I can't remember who I was talking to but they mentioned that Micheal's usually had coupons for various items so I was advised to wait until I could find a coupon. We don't receive coupons at the Mothership household so what to do? Aha, I called Darrin. He gets flyers and lots of them. He promised me that he'd keep an eye out for the coupon and would let me know as soon as he saw it. Excellent.

Darrin. Good as his word. He calls one night, talks to Steven. And passes a message to me THROUGH Steven. It was something like this: "let Lori know that thing we talked about? I found it."

Frickin' Darrin.

Thankfully Steven is thinking that I'm getting him a Blu-Ray or a power tool. Or a GPS. Not exactly sure how his brain made that leap, but who am I to judge?

Darrin comes over that weekend to give me the coupon. We're all in the backyard doing gardening and he chats to Steven about something garage-related and soon enough Steven is going to the garage. Darrin is digging in his wallet to scramble to give me the coupon and Steven returns to see part of a red piece of paper.

It gets better.

I have a candle party to go to the next weekend so I tell Steven that I am going to go early because I want to go to the mall to get a pair of sandals. Not a lie. I DO want to buy a pair of sandals. So he tries to get me to take John with me but I tell him that I want some "me" time (again, not a lie) and I leave the house. I go to Michael's, pick out my mattes and custom frame and then go to the mall. I park the car and start walking towards the door when I notice Steven circling the parking lot and driving up to me.

What the hell? Is he following me?

So now he thinks that I have his present in the trunk of the car. (which I don't but about 30 minutes ago, I did).

Fast forward a couple of weeks. Micheal's calls me at work to let me know that the painting is ready. I tell Steven that I'm going to the library and zoom over pick up the painting and go to Darrin's to wrap the painting and leave it there for him to hide. I make him promise that he moves it from the living room and actually HIDES it. In the weeks leading up to the birthday, Steven is at Darrin's house and is scouting out his garage and house for any signs of the above hoped for Blu-Ray, power tool or GPS. Darrin also lets slip that I was at his house one day.

Friggin' Darrin.

But I managed to pick up the painting on Thursday night, sneak it back into the house and hide it UNDER THE BED!!!! (because I'm sneaky like that)

SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! LOVE YOU LOTS!

To Make Spot Jealous

Riley: "Hey Spot. How do you like MY pool?"

(these are from last June)