Out of the mouths of babes!

Why do zits never go away? The bane of all teenage existence follows us doggedly into adulthood. Poor Ian has one right in the crease between his nose & upper lip. Those are the painfully annoying kind & he started to absentmindedly rub it while we were at the dinner table. Max (who has heard this phrase repeatedly directed at himself ) told Ian that "We don't pick our nose, Dad! That's yucky!" & the following conversation ensued:

I: I'm not picking my nose, buddy. Its a zit.
M: What's a zit?
I: Its another name for a pimple. Sometimes you get them because its time to wash your face.
M: Whats a pimp?

30 minutes later I have picked myself up off the floor & stopped laughing long enough to get on the blog!

On another note, When we watch movies, I usually skip all the previews/ads & head straight for the main menu so we can start watching the movie right away. Ian, on the other hand, just pops in the dvd & lets it run. Max really likes the THX ad in Pixar films. Evidently, every time the THX breaks down & the little robot comes flying out to fix it, Max says "He said dammit, Daddy. We don't say dammit". Every time! He knows he's not supposed to say that word but he seems to be under the impression that if he uses it while tattling, its OK.

Christmas Week

Christmas was so much fun this year! Mum-mum & Pop-pop came up from Arkansas for a whole week. We really missed Uncle Mark but he had to work at his new job. We spent christmas morning opening presents. The two biggest hits were the rubber farm boots (just like pop-pop's) & the shark tent followed closely by the basketball goal.

Taking a break from opening presents

I gots farm boots!!!



Max & Pop-pop in the shark

He shoots! He scores!

Later that day we all piled into the car & headed to Florissant for dinner with Ian's parents, his sister Deb & her family. Dinner (prime rib & yorkshire pudding, YUM!) was wonderful & it was nice to have both families together again. Max was treated to another round of presents but I think he had the most fun playing with his cousin Sarah.

Mimi, Grandpa & Ian



Sarah, Max, Sara, Mum-mum & Aunt Debbie




Max & Sarah playing (imaginary) baseball.

Ian & Uncle Scott looking snazzy in their new chef gear

We left Florissant arount 9:30pm & Max still seemed pretty wound up. Imagine my suprise when I looked in the back seat about 15 minutes later & saw this:

What a pair!

Later that week our friends Misty & Michael came over & had lunch with us. Their kids were in Arkansas for a few days so Max had them all to himself. I was just happy to see my bestest friend!

Misty & Michael

After all the excitment, Max decided he needed a nice relaxing bath that night. What better time to try out his new razor & shaving cream.

And the party just kept going! Marlo came over for a couple hours later in the week & managed to distract Max for an hour or so. I think he might have even conned her into going to Arkansas with us in March.

Sara, Max, Marlo & Pop-pop

Naming Rights

Max & I have been talking a lot about babies lately. It seems everyone we know is expecting & they are all due in either January or June. Makes for some interesting conversations. Anyway, the other day, Max & I went to visit our good friends Jenn & Kris who are expecting twins. Max gets (kind of) the concept that a woman can have a baby in her tummy & that when it gets big enough it will come out since quite a few of his classmates have recently become big brothers or sisters. When we told him that Jenn had 2 babies in there, he was understandably full of questions. "How do they fit? What do they do in there all day? Do they have toys? Do they hafta share? How do they look at books?" Then he asked what their names were and the conversation went something like this:

Jenn: So far, we've picked Rachel for a girl & Matthew for a boy.

Max: No no no no, Auntie Jenn! That's not their names!

Jenn: Do you know their names, Max?

Max: They is Jorn & Jack. Can you say that? JORN... And JACK! (emphatically)

Its been a couple weeks & he is still insisting that the babies will be called Jorn & Jack. We'll have to wait & see it the parents to be take his advice

On a related note, no, I am not drinking the same water as all of my friends but may take a sip or two next July. So patience all you antsy people! (And you know who you are!)

Turkey Day!

This year we went to our nephew Cristopher's new house for Thanksgiving. This was his first year to host & he did a great job! Chris recently moved in with 3 roommates, a cat & now 2 puppies. His dog, Pika, is a black Australian Shepard mix & Inuyasha, a cute little mutt that looks very beagle-ish, belongs to one of the other guys in the house. Needless to say, as soon as Max discovered the dogs we had a hard time getting him to pay attention to anything else.

Max & Pika

Inuyasha taking a rest from playing

We sat down to dinner & all was well. The turkeys were perfect, sweet potatos tasty, stuffing yummy & all the other dishes were quickly devoured as well. Max provided the entertainment by asking Chris's friend Daily why he had long hair & so many piercings. When Daily answered that he had them because "a pretty girl liked them" you could see the wheels turning in Max's little head. Uh-oh...

After dinner, we went downstairs to play a little Guitar Hero. Max had a great time playing against his cousin Sarah & kept us in stitches the entire time. He had such a serious expression & would jump around, playing like a rock star. He really wanted to take the guitars home & was only consoled by a promise to get out Daddy's guitar in the morning.

Firetrucks & Halloween

Its been awhile, I know! But now the computer is fixed & I should be able to get back on track. Keeping in mind that Holiday is in full swing for us poor retail saps, I have a final coming up & my habit of taking on more projects than I really should.

In July, the Monarch Fire Department celebrated their 100th (I think) anniversary with a huge party. Ian & Max met our friend Leslie there to help celebrate. Her stepdad, Ron, is a firefighter with the department & showed Max all around the fire station, including inside the firetrucks & ambulance, the previous Halloween. Max was very excited to see his firemen friends again & the possibility of seeing a helicopter up close didn't hurt either! Max got to see all kinds of different demonstrations & came home wanting to be a firefighter (or a horse) when he grows up.

Who wouldn't want to play on this firetruck?

Firefighter Max is on his way!

Take that, naughty fire!

Watching the firemen

This Halloween fell on a Wednesday which just happens to be a class night for me. And not just any class night. It was the night I had to give a presentation worth 25% of my grade so there was no getting out of it! Max's reply when I told him Leslie would be taking him Trick or Treating? "Yeah, I get to play with Bara". As an added treat, she also brought Lucas! So off I went to class!

Max insisted that he wear his costume backwards because it was more comfortable that way. Max, Lucas & Bara the Wonder Dog!

Backwards Buzz

Backwards Buzz showing us his laser

Max listening intently to Lucas explaining how to eat a lollipop.

Max & Lucas sharing the spoils.

Thank you to Leslie who took all these cute pics while hanging out with Max! You rock!

I know its been awhile since my last post but its been a little crazy here. We're gearing up for Holiday at work, my final is swiftly approaching at school & Ian has been traveling way to much. Top that all off with a busted desktop computer & you get a whole lotta nothin' on the blog. It is now on the road to recovery & hopefully by the end of the week I will post more pics of Max than you will know what to do with. Seriously, be prepared for multiple posts!

I recently discovered this comic strip & the past week has been drawn from reader emails. Since I write the schedules in my store, the 11/14/2007 strip is particularly rlevant. Read a few & take a peek into my work (*shudder*) life.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/retail.asp

And now I will close my laptop & read my psych chapter like I was going to do 3 hours ago!

of naps & neighbors

Exhausted boy

Max has been having a lot of trouble sleeping lately. Not at night, just during the day. When its time for a nap at school, he does everything possible to keep himself awake. He lies on his cot with one leg in the air until he physically can't hold it up any longer & he lets it drop only to raise the other leg and start all over again. He sings to himself (which, in a 3 yr old's voice, is not always to himself), tosses & turns & makes enough noise that the kids around him have a hard time sleeping too. At first his teachers would give him a book & let him read or he could go to the drawing table or the puzzle table as long as he let his friends rest. The problem is that he really needs that nap. When I would arrive around 4pm to pick him up, he would be exhausted (but still fighting sleep every step of the way). Only when I strapped him into his car seat would his fingers make their way to his mouth & invariably he would be out within 5 minutes. This would have been OK if it was just a little car nap but no, he was so tired he would sleep all the way home, continue to sleep on the couch while I made dinner, wake up to eat, then ASK to go to bed! At 6:30pm! So in order to get him to take a nap, one of his teachers helps Max wrap himself in his blanket (he thinks being a Max burrito is hysterical) and sits next to him & pats his back or if he's having a really hard time, she holds him & rocks. A couple of days ago, Max seemed to be having an extra hard time & started crying. When Heather explained that it was rest time & his actions were telling her he needed help falling asleep, he replied "You're turning me off & I don't like being turned off!" But he took a nap! For 2 hours!

Max loves to play in the dirt & our neighbor, Karolyn likes to garden. Her youngest is 24 so she likes to spend time with Max when she needs a little kid fix. A couple of weeks ago, Karolyn & Max made a friendship garden next to our mailbox. He had so much fun digging the holes for the plants and laying rocks for the border. Its so nice to have friendly neighbors!

Max digging holes for the new plants

Max & Karolyn loading rocks in to his wagon for the border

Almost done

Just a few more finishing touches