Ironman

In our house it is a toss up who I see more, Nathan or Ironman. I think Ironman is ferocious and strong and mighty, as I tell him many times a day, but I still obviously don't play the Ironman game right. Here is a sample of a daily conversation with my son's alter ego.

(Nathan, walking out in his well worn Ironman costume.)

Me: "Whoa, Nathan, looking good!"

"NO. I am not Nathan, I am Ironman."

"Oh, right, sorry. Ironman, you look so tough today!"

"MOM, pretend you don't know who I am! Pretend to say, 'Who are you?' "

"WHO IS THIS IN MY KITCHEN?? ARE YOU IRONMAN?!?" (Said with great feeling and super hero worthy emotion.)

"MOOOOOOOMMMMMM, pretend you don't know who I am!"

"Who are you?"

"I am IRONMAN."

"Ironman, you are awesome, I'm so glad to meet you."

"NO, that's not right. You don't know if I'm a good guy or a bad guy. Say, 'Are you a good guy or a bad guy?' "

Sigh. "Are you a good guy or a bad guy?"

"A good guys. Mommy, pretend you don't know what's on my hands. Say it. Say, "What's on your hands?' "

"Ironman, what's on your hands? They look so powerful."

"You don't know if they are powerful. Mom, you don't these things. You aren't a super hero. Say,'What's on your hands?"

"Whoa, what's on your hands?"

"REPULSOR RAYS!!"

"Repulsor rays, they must be very powerful!"

"NO!! Ask me what they do, ask me like this, say, "Ironman, are they powerful?"

"Ironman, what do you do with your repulsor rays?" (Said with less feeling.)

"BLAST WHIPLASH!! Mommy, pretend you don't know who Whiplash is. Pretend you are afraid of him. Say it like this, say, "WHO IS WHIPLASH!?"

"WHO IS WHIPLASH?!"

"NNOOOOO, not like that, like this, "WHO IS WHIPLASH?!?!"

"Ironman,can you please tell mw who Whiplash is."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, pretend to say, pretend to say.................."



Are you tired of this conversation yet? Frankly, so am I. But don't tell Ironman, he might blast me with his repulsor rays.

You da man

Tonight we hosted a pajama party for eight (yes, eight) little girls. Aubrey got this notion in her head around Christmas and it has taken this long to come to fruition. There was dinner, cookie decorating, a movie, duck duck goose, and plenty of improvised fun. It was great, in a crazy, chaotic, shrieking little girl kind of way.

Some friends of mine said they thought I was a good mom as they picked up their girls. You know, because we had a for-the-heck-of-it party and still looked kind of sane at the end of it. But guys, here is the truth of it. I'm not always a good mom and when I am there is a secret behind the goodness. Greg.

I would NEVER have done this party if Greg hadn't been here. No way, no how. He watched the kids while I made dinner. He held a baby while I piled up plates. He pierced juice boxes, spread frosting, and laughed at a HILARIOUS batch of knock knock jokes. When a couple girls were overwhelmed (rightly so) one of us stayed up and got coloring for them while the other supervised the crazy crew. One of us swept while the other popped popcorn. You get the idea. This was not a one man job and it was fun for everyone, including us, because I had Greg doing the whole thing with me. When I told him this at the end of the night, as he was vacuuming up popcorn, he said simply, "We're a team."

So, the cat is out of the bag. If I ever dare to be a good mom it is only because Greg is an exceptional dad. Now you know.

Investment

For a Sunday afternoon craft, I made Valentine's Day card holders with the kids.

To make this...

...it required this:

p.s. I had picked up for about ten minutes prior to this picture.

p.p.s. Verdict: WORTH IT!

The beauty of tradition

Would you believe that its become a Christmas tradition to take a picture of my sister Hannah pretending to punch our mom in the face?

(The addition of brother-in-law Matt in the back is just a bonus.)

All about a Danish

Our little Dane turned three on January 14. Three year old birthdays are so much fun because they GET IT. That means that they understand that they are awesome, that they can say things like "I get to go first-take that from you-eat that-make a general nuisance of myself- because it's my birthday!!" and that the events of the day (or days as our family seems to do) revolve around them.

I always make the kids a special breakfast, lunch, and dinner for their birthdays. Knowing that Dane loves pancakes I asked him what he wanted for his breakfast. He paused to think and said, "Syrup." Later I asked what he wanted for dinner and he said, "Soup." This floored me because making him eat any kind of soup is a full assault battle. "What kind of soup?" I asked. "Syrup soup." Hey, at least the kid knows his own mind!

Dane truly had a wonderful birthday. He loved his cake, he loved his gifts, he loved going to Chuck E. Cheese, and he loved all the special attention. I love birthdays too, it's a chance to really dote on one of the kids and go out of the way to make them feel special. My mom always made a big deal out of our birthdays and they are some of my best childhood memories. I am hoping to repeat that with our kiddos. In a house full of kids it's a big deal to have a day or two devoted only to you! OH, and thank you to all our wonderful family who spent the day with us and made his day special. Grandma Julie, you were missed!

I included many pictures of his birthday as well as the shots I took for his third birthday. I think I have a couple of ones that are good enough to avoid the JC Penneys. Of course the photo shoot ended up with him tantruming and crying in time out but hey, you can't tell from the photos!

Happy Monday folks!

will I ever post again?

Yes, I will. Someday. When I have time.

In the meantime, here are a few random pictures taken over our Christmas break. You know, that break that was almost a month ago.

On tap for future blog posts: Christmas (maybe, if it isn't Easter already), Dane's 3rd birthday, and my attempt at taking Dane's 3 year pictures myself. That super fun process ended up with him tantruming and being sent to his room. Good times.

My baby is 7 months old today. SEVEN MONTHS?!?!?!? Guess it's time for another one. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Ride until we barf or bust

When you know people, the way I know people, you get invited to super swanky events. You know, play dates, birthday parties, and the occasional SUPER AWESOME INVITATION ONLY CHRISTMAS PARTY AT THE RIVER FRONT PARK CAROUSEL. I know, it might be tough for me to reenter normal society after an event like that.

Okay, it was really cool. It was hosted by some wheelchair vendors (seriously) for all the medical facilities they provide their services to. My awesome physical therapist friend Kat is on that short list and got us invited as well. They kids had a blast. Santa was there, taking pictures and handing out candy canes. There was a mountain of super nice swanky event caliber sugar cookies, any beverage you can imagine, and most importantly, as many rides on that awesome carousel as you wanted. Or until you barfed, which ever came first. Best part for me? It was all free. The kids had a blast. A BLAST. I wonder how many awesome people I will need to know to turn this into a family tradition?

Things on this old blog will be slow and quiet over the holidays so have a very Merry Christmas and a great new year. Enjoy your friends and family and may you too do something so fun that you too do it until you barf. (Like the way my mom and I eat 70 pounds of divinity.)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!








How's that for a title?

Not for sale

At about 7:30 this morning the cars started lining up.

By 9:00 a.m. when I brought Aubrey to school they stretched all the way down my street, lining both sides. Dozens of people rushed toward our neighbors house, trying to beat out the person next to them for some treasure.

Our elderly neighbor passed away two months ago and her family is holding her estate sale today. I had no idea these things were this popular. There has been an unrelenting stream of vehicles for several hours now.

It doesn't take a brilliant philosopher to deduce that ones life, a quality life, had better be about more than the stuff one owns. One day someone could open your home to the public and allow perfect strangers to buy up all the things that you thought were important. Your furniture, the art on your walls, the dishes in your cupboards, all the tools in your garage. It all goes.

What they won't be able to take is the family you had, the friends you had, the relationships you built, the impact and influence you had on the people around you, and your faith in God.

I hope you get the opportunity today to work on building up those things that one day won't be for sale!

You know it's Christmas when...

Yikes! This was supposed to be an Elf Yourself but we are experiencing technical difficulties. Stay tuned.

Will Dane lose the first tooth in our family?

The details are still a bit hazy.

"We were playing a pillow game and he was throwing and I was catching, oh, and the bunk bed, oh and it was funny because he was using his repulsor rays but my web was more powerful and then Dane threw the pillow and WAP he hit something and I think it was his finger and and and and....."

This is what is streaming out of Nathan's mouth as I pick a sobbing Dane up off the top bunk bed, Aubrey's bed, blood and drool dripping out of his mouth.

Mouth injuries always look like they are bleeding a lot because of all the saliva but WHOA, Dane had a lot of blood in his mouth. We sat in the bathroom for five minutes just putting a wet wash cloth in his mouth and trying to figure out where the bleeding was even coming from. This of course is happening as every member of our small group Bible Study was arriving. Heck, it was Melissa who said, "Maybe you should get him a popcicle." (THANKS MELISSA, I HOPE YOUR BABY IS BORN TONIGHT IN REPAYMENT FOR YOUR KINDNESS.)

Tonight Dane is the proud owner of a nice fat lip, cut up gums, and a front tooth that has been knocked at a slight angle and is loose. Do I need to remind you that this is the kid who broke his arm at 19 months? Yeah, he did.

I called our dentist, who is so nice and chill that we first talked Gonzaga basketball and home schooling before we got around to Dane's tooth. The short answer? It's fine. Tooth at weird angle? As long as it doesn't impact his bite, no problem. Cut gums? As long as it doesn't get infected it will heal fast. If the tooth gets dark and nasty and snaggle toothish? No biggy, we pull it and wait for a grown up tooth to come in a few years. No problem. Just another normal day at the Jones house.

Aubrey will NEVER FORGIVE HIM if he loses a tooth before her.

p.s. The photo has nothing to do with this story other than it is a picture of Dane and it is cute.