Devin has a friend...

Devin has a friend who lives up the street. She's actually old enough to be his grandma, but he loves her. So, I will call them friends.

Devin likes to do jobs for his friend, from crushing boxes to feeding the bluebirds to whatever it is that she calls a job. He just loves to spend time with her.

He always brings something home from his friend's house. Lately, it's been grape tomatoes and juice.

He saw her twice last week, so there was a lot of talk surrounding this friend for about 2 days. Here are some highlights:

"When I grow up, I'm going to move in with my friend. I will buy her juice."

"I will only do jobs for my friend, not for you."

"I think my friend will ask me to move in with her."

Somehow, I think he wants to marry her. In general, the fact that she has a husband isn't a problem. He doesn't think she'll mind two. But, when I asked what if she does mind having two husbands, this was his answer.

"It's OK. I think he will sintegrate."

I thought I probably knew what he meant by sintegrate, but I asked him to clarify, anyway. He said it meant,

"Gone. Dead."

I shared a lot of what he said about his friend to his friend. I kept that one little bit about her husband sintegrating to myself, though. It seemed a little too "fatal attraction" for a soon to be 4 year old...

A shoestring

Today, my children fought over a shoestring.

A shoestring.

A shoestring...

Wow.

Oh!

"How many vowels are in my, name, Mom?" Trevor asked.

I spelled his name and said that E an O are vowels so he has two vowels in his name.

"Oh," he said. Then, he added, "the understanding kind, not the letter kind."

Smile!

We went to Hershey Park over Labor Day Weekend. It was big fun! We got lots of good photos. Feel free to browse them on our Family Photos page. But, we got a series of photos that were especially good and tell a particularly good story about Devin and what he does when he's told to smile...

This was a one time opportunity family self portrait. Daddy said, "SMILE!" and

Devin held his nose!

We got three pictures of the boys with the Hershey Bar. This is actually the best one. Daddy said, "SMILE!" and

Well, just see for yourself what Devin decides to hold...

But, this is classic Devin. We got the boys these uber cute paper hats and decided to take their picture in front of Chocolate world for posterity, and...

Daddy said, "SMILE!" and

Devin hides his eyes...

Daddy said, "SMILE!" and

Devin runs towards the camera and the picture taker for a big hug (Jolly-o, I say! says Trevor in the background as he marches to the beat of his own internal drum...)

Daddy said, "SMILE!" and

Devin rocks out while Trevor contemplates his younger brother rocking out!

Daddy said, "SMILE!" and

THEY DO JUST THAT!

Daddy said, "SMILE!" and

They don't really do it again. Would you like to see Devin pull his shorts up, though??

From the mouths of babes...

We went to dinner last night, and the Computer Guy got himself a margarita.

Trevor understood this was an "adult beverage." And, he decided to comment on that.

"I wish that lime would make the alcohol disappear."

I don't know where he gets his ideas about alcohol, but he has it in his head that alcohol is bad. And, I don't really understand why. He's never been around someone who is stinkin' drunk. And, we don't lecture him that alcohol is bad. We've told him he can't have it because it will stunt his growth. He's ok with that. In fact, he said, "Oh, I know that kids can't drink alcohol!" with gusto and authority when we reminded him that he can't drink at 5. We've told him that it's OK to enjoy in moderation as we are known to do. But, he'd rather just have us all be tee-totalers. And, that's OK! I just don't know where it comes from. Maybe the Simpsons?!

Well, he's an enigma wrapped in a paradox all full of wisdom and sage advice. I suppose.

Got beer?

We went to A&W/Long John Silver's for dinner tonight. We let Trevor choose. That's why we didn't end up at Olive Garden or some place where the food is brought to your table by servers. This particular A&W/Long John's Silver's continues the tradition of the Frosty Mug. I think that really does make it taste better. But, I digress...

I asked Trevor if he wanted to try the Root Beer from my Frosty Mug. He was curious. He said, "Hmmm, I've never had root beer."

Then, he added, "I've only had real beer."

Oh, yes he did say that!

But, I'm not really sure WHY he said that. I told him that he hadn't really ever had real beer, which is after all an adult beverage (he's been saying "after all" ALL THE TIME lately). He elaborated that he had Mug Root Beer at his Day Camp. I really ought to tell the people at the Chucky Cheese like day camp that I'd prefer they not give me kids soda (yeah, I'm a little opposed to that because I think High Fructose Corn Syrup is just an evil, evil thing, but also because they don't like it all that much, they find it "spicy"...I've digressed again.)

Well, my point is was that in his mind Frosty Mug Root Beer was not real beer, but Mug Root Beer was.

In end, he tasted my root beer and decided it was better than the "real beer" he tasted at Day Camp.

Friends!

We were walking downtown the other day, and Devin saw a friend from school. As I pointed out Devin's friend to him, the friend opened his arms wide and said, "My Friend!" As they met, Devin was embraced by his friend who then offered him a sip of his very own lemonade. Devin was just about to take a drink when the other mom put a kibosh on that.

I saw the other mom at school yesterday, and she said after we walked away, her son said, "But I know that Devin likes lemonade!

Precious Moment of the week....

Woah!

The boys got the Othello game out of the basement. You know Othello, right? It has eleventy billion and one pieces. True story.

I just put all the discs in the holder and ZERO are missing.

I wonder what it could all mean. Should I play the lottery today? This just never happens. Let's all prepare ourselves for something big.

eruption

Conversations in the car...

"Hey mom!" Trevor said to start the conversation.

"Hey, what?"

"Wanna do a pop quiz?"

"Sure!"

"When was the last time Mt. Vesuvius erupted?"

"Uh... can we make it multiple choice?

"Sure! You can make any choice you want. Any month, any day, any year. Multiple choice is great!"

At this point, parents in the front seat dissolve into laughter.

At that point, the tone in the back seat changed from light and fun to terse and annoyed.

"No. I really want to know when Mt. Vesuvius erupted last time."

I didn't turn around to look, but I bet he was frowning!

I'll go tell him now that the last time it erupted was March 18, 1944. The type of explosion was effusive and explosive, and a lava flow invaded Massa and S. Sebastiano.


For more information, check here

Picture of the day

I remember decorating my bike to ride in the 4th of July parade in Wynona.

Fond, crepe paper memories, those.

Thus, we couldn't pass up an opportunity to decorate the kids' bikes and send them riding down a road with a bunch of other kids on decorated bikes on the Fourth of July.