oops

At the library two weeks ago, Saben comes running up to me with a book. "Look at this amazing explosion mom!". On the cover is a picture of the Hindenburg, exploding and in full flame. I immediately took it from him and flipped through it to make sure there were no gory pictures. It was clean enough for a book about an accident that killed 35 people and I said we could get it.

One thing led to another and as a "consequence", saben did not get to check out any books after all that day. So today, at the library, I went and found the book, checked it out and we read it this afternoon.

It was written 1st person from the perspective of a teen girl and went on & on, describing what it was like to fly on the ship. Super interesting, but we skipped more than 1/2. Then we get to the part where it explodes and I'm choking up...the way they wrote it was super realistic. Then I turn the page and there are burned people pictures! Turns out I accidentally got a similar but different book - one that included some guy with a 1/2 charred face. UGH. Please no nightmares tonite....saben did say it wasn't scary. Apparently a cat chasing mice in Cinderella is terrifying, but burned faces are not.

And it turns out, the 1st person narrator (teen girl) DIES after jumping from the ship. Oh, but first she watches a fellow passenger get smashed by a metal beam and watches a teddy bear melt into her hand. I should have known the Hindenburg isn't exactly 5 year old material, but I was trying so hard to nurture his interest in explosions and "gently" introduce the reality that they hurt people and aren't just "cool". Plan backfire.

Oh well.

I prefer monster trucks jumping over volcanoes

"A bad guy dropped a bomb on a gas station and it blew up. There was a weapon store next door - actually a skyscraper! And it caught on fire from the explosion. You can see all the weapons, a bow and arrow, a sword, a gun and a whip"

More musings on boys and their obsession with evil, death and destruction to come. Sigh.

Drumroll....

Kyle gets very emotional over....buying new cars.

Specifically, handing over money for one he doesn't love. He just can't bear to hand money over for something practical like say a.... Honda Pilot.....that he doesn't really like.

However, he only likes about 10% of the cars on the market, and most of the ones he likes are out of our price range or develop expensive electrical issues with age. Or only fit 5. (I really want to be able to take our kids plus their friends places in the next five years)

I could go on and on, but if we ever settle on something to replace our suburban, it will be a miracle.

But him saying "I just get so emotional over buying cars" made me laugh really hard, because I literally have never heard him use that phrase for anything before.

Kari's Blog Contest

This weekend, Kyle uttered the phrase "I just get so emotional about _________"

This is the first time in 10 years of knowing him that I have ever heard him use that phrase or say he gets emotional about something.

Can you guess what makes Kyle emotional? 10 points to anyone who gets it correct.

warning

Warning:
My daughter likes to use the proper word used to describe male anatomy. I would type it here, but I really don't want anyone searching for that word and stumbling upon my blog.

For a long long time, we did not even teach Saben the correct word for fear that he might take to shouting it out at inopportune times. Turns out we had nothing to worry about, he's never been one for those types of shenanigans. His sister on the other hand....she learned the word early (from Saben) and has used it enthusiastically ever since.

The first confusion came because she thought she had one and would talk about it while I changed her diaper. For some reason, that bothered me, so I corrected her, made sure she knew exactly what it was (using saben as a model) and then taught her another playful word for her own bits. (not an anatomically correct word)

Somehow, somewhere along the line, she said the word and we laughed. Because it is sort of funny to hear a two year old girl talking about that sort of thing. Next thing you know, we're at a pizza place and she starts shouting it. I panic and tell her to stop. The more anxious and sterner I get, the LOUDER she shouts the word, laughing the whole time. Over and over. Thank goodness this pizza place is loud, I was to embarrassed to even look around and see if anyone heard her. Kyle was the brilliant one who managed to distract her, I was so freaked out I just kept saying "SHHHHH" to no avail.

Part two of this story is her lavish use of the word for solid bowel movements. Remember the post I did in December about Jingle Poop? So Kyle tells me that if I just join in the fun, it will actually make it less attractive to Saben and he'll stop using potty talk so much. I try it one day, but its pretty weird. Somehow in all this, Annika picks up that saying poop is funny and next thing you know she is singing something she calls the "poopy song" all the time.

The best part is that once she joined in, Saben got super annoyed. Now he tells her all the time "Annika! Potty talk isn't funny!" and he rarely uses it himself anymore unless its just him & his buddies being silly.

The worst part is standing in line at the grocery store with just annika, zoning out, and suddenly realize everyone is staring/giggling at you because your daughter is singing "poopy song, pooooopy song, pooo pooopy song". It'd be one thing if Saben was there and everyone would know it was probably the older brother who taught her. But she's done it several times when its just me & her.

What my days are like

Kari (thinking): I wonder whether or not I should put on a movie so that I can get ready to go out....which one?

Annika (yelling): Mommy! Help! Heeeeeelllllp!

Saben: Look at this rocket I built. It is the fastest one on earth and is made out of very lightweight metal. It has 12 booster engines and two fuel tanks....

Kari (thinking): Saben doesn't like Blues Clues anymore, but at least it is short. Is there something they both like?

Annika: Help..! Help!

Kari: What do you need help with Annika?

Annika: I can't get up the stairs!!! (she is lying on the stairs sort of flopping around)

Saben: This rocket is amazing, it can get to the moon in.....ten seconds! It can carry anything too, like that house out there!

Kari: Wow Saben.

Kari (thinking): Do I have time to write a blog post before I go out? Should I put in Angelina Ballerina instead of Blues Clues? What if I want them to watch something this afternoon instead...do I really want the break now or later?

Annika: MOOOOOOOOOMMMMMY!!! HELP ME!

Kari: Annika, you don't need help up the stairs! Just get up and walk up them!

Saben: What is 10 times 100 mom? That is how fast this rocket can go. It is bigger than anything on the entire earth. It can carry a house or an apartment building or even a truck!

Kari: 10 times 100 is one thousand Saben. Annika! Stop Whining!

Kari (thinking): That's it, I am putting in blues clues before my head explodes. Just 20 minutes, so maybe I can do another one this afternoon.

*Repeat many, many times throughout the day*

Hide and Seek

Hide and go seek is one of my favorite games to play with the kids. Whenever I am hiding, Saben makes Annika be the one to check all the hiding places. If he thinks I'm in the closet he'll say "annika, go check in the closet" or if its behind a door "Annika, go check behind that door!" He hangs back and watches to see if she finds me.

When the kids find me, I find it impossible not to yell and try to startle them a little, which is why Saben hates being the one to find me. Annika dutifully obeys him and so I jump at her and give a little yell, but she doesn't mind and we laugh together. I just hope I haven't traumatized my son forever.

Find What is Missing

Can you tell what is missing in these photos compared to the ones of Annika & her friend taken yesterday? (no, the answer is not "her friend Riley")

Maybe now?

If you zoom in, you'll definitely see it.

The story

On Monday, Annika sort of tumbled off a balance beam while trying to get on it and managed to chip her two top front teeth on the leg of the beam. The dentist was closed, so I thought we'd get in Tuesday...On Tuesday they were full so we went in this morning. I figured they would just examine her & if anything needed to be pulled we'd go back in later.

In the meantime, one tooth started to just barely change color. Uh oh. This morning we went in and got xrays - one tooth was abscessing and had to come out immediately, the other was fine and will just be chipped.

I called Kyle and he came to hold her while it got pulled. (I get nauseous just thinking about being there for it, but I'm sure I could have done it if I'd had to.) She had nitrous, squirmed during the shot, and then was fine for the rest of it. She was upset when I took the gauze out and it felt funny, but after crepes for lunch (with nutella & banana) and a polly pocket shopping spree, she has been doing great.

It's been a very emotional week for me and I'm not sure you ever really understand until you are a mom and your child's smile is changed for the next 4-5 years. I am so thankful its nothing worse and I know its small in the grand scheme of things. But there's still part of me that would rather she'd broken her arm so it would heal & go back to normal. Teeth don't. They are so visible, and now whenever she smiles I'll be reminded that she got hurt and how vulnerable she is.

Or maybe every time she smiles, I'll smile back and be amazed at my spunky brave girl. Because really....a missing tooth sums up her personality perfectly.

friends, part 2

Girl time - nail painting

I wanted to get some pictures of annika & her buddy Riley...Once again, actually getting a shot where they both look good was impossible, but at least we got some super funny ones. The quotes are pretty much exactly what I said before taking each picture.

"Stand next to eachother so I can take your picture"

"Annika, put your arm around Riley"

"Why don't you make silly faces"

"Can you guys smile for the camera?"

Friends, Part 1

Take a cute picture of four adorable kids? HA HA HA HA! Good luck!
Ok, how about six kids? This is as good as it gets folks.

2 adults, 2 kids? Almost there, if annika would get her hand out of her mouth.

These are the best three out of um...50 pictures I took that day? Well there are a couple more good ones and at least we had a lot of fun!

Homecoming 2010 (or 1994?)

Inappropriate Birthday Gifts

So, I am in a store in Portland and I spy this adorable series of books called "Baby be of Use". There is "Baby Fix my Car", "Baby do my Banking" and yes...."Baby make me a Drink". I read a couple of them cover to cover and yes...."Baby make me a Drink", while sort of hilarious, is obviously not one I am going to buy. But I love the idea of "useful" babies, so I decide to get "Baby Make Me Breakfast" for Hailey's first birthday. But I didn't read the whole thing, just the first couple pages to get the gist.

When I get home, I pull it out to show it to Kyle. Each page has the ingredients for a breakfast with a + sign in between them. So Grapefruit + cherry = 1/2 a grapefruit for breakfast. Then I get to the 2nd to last page and see a bottle of Aspirin + a glass of water and I am thinking "whhhhhhaat???"

Then I get to the last page and it shows breakfast laid out on the table. It says "Now scram baby, Mommy's hung". So apparently baby was making breakfast because mommy was too hungover to do it. Oops. I gave it to Shauna anyways. Oh well.

Moral: Read the ENTIRE book before you buy it, especially if there's already some questionable books in the same series.