Beware of the April Fools

April Fool's Day is typically not observed in our household because the mama (aka "me") is not particularly fond of practical jokes.  It wouldn't be too bad if the pranks pulled were light-hearted in nature, but it seems like they always have a tint of nasty to them.  What starts out with the simple intention of making someone else laugh tends to end up embarrassing, shaming, or hurting them.  Like all families,we love to laugh at one another's expense and enjoy a good joke, but having an entire morning dedicated to pulling pranks on unsuspecting victims creates anxiety within me.  Just like it did when I was a little girl desperately trying to navigate the halls of my school unseen and, therefore, unpranked, and oh, how I would breathe a sigh of relief when the lunch bell rang at noon signifying the end of the April Fool's madness. 

Aaaahhhh . . . safe for another year.

So last year on Mar. 31 when Elliot cried in his bed because his belly hurt and there was no possible way he could wake up and go to school the next day, I immediately recognized the symptoms and devised a plan.  Elliot and I decided that the best cure for the April Fool's Blues was to become the pranker and not the prankee, and our goal was to find a prank that wouldn't target just one person and wouldn't cause grief for anyone. 

I wish these brilliant ideas would come to me more often!

So we got to work!  Since we still had some crutches laying around the house from the week before when Zoe sprained her ankle, we decided to wrap Elliot's ankle up and send him to school on the crutches.  That night, rather than going to bed fearful, Elliot was full of giggles.

This is going to be the best prank ever, Mom!

And it was.  Elliot's classmates and his teachers totally fell for it, and were quite surprised when the lunch bell rang and Elliot threw down his crutches, did a dance, and squealed "April Fool's Day"!  He was beaming when he came home that afternoon, and I gave myself a pat on the back:  Good work, mama.  Good work!

Oh, but like so many of my proud mama moments, there is always a dark side, and it reared its ugly, and very smelly, head yesterday afternoon.

All week, Elliot has been counting down to April Fool's Day, and recently he recruited his usual cohort in shenanigans, Avery, to come up with the ultimate prank on Zoe.  First, they created an evil lair in their bedroom closet where they could plot and devise their plans. Second, they scoured the unsuspecting victim's room, while she was at school, for anything they could use against her.  Third, they asked their mama for some glass jars and headed outside.

Typically, when the boys are getting along well and are staying out of my hair, I let them be, but yesterday, I couldn't shake this nagging feeling that I should find out exactly what they were up to.  Mind you, I am very good at ignoring nagging feelings, particularly when I am enjoying some much needed peace and quiet, so the boys were just wrapping up their maniacal plot when I asked:

Boys, what are the glass jars for?

Ummmm . . . .

Nothing mom!  We're just using them for our April Fool's Day prank on Zoe.

That, Avery, he is so smooth . . .

Yes, but what is your prank?

Ummmm . . . .

Come on, Avery, just tell her.  The gig is up.

That, Elliot, he is so smart . . .

We put dog poop and compost in the jars, and we were going to open them up and hide them in Zoe's room on April Fool's Day.

WHAT?!?!?!?!  

It will be hilarious!  She'll love it!

Get rid of them now!

Later that afternoon, Zoe came home from school and asked:

What's with all the glass baby food jars outside the door.

And Elliot proceeded to tell her . . .

What?!?!?!?!  You two are so dead!  Just wait; I'm going to get you for this.

As the boys laid in their bed last night contemplating the various things their sister could do to them, I overheard Elliot say:

Avery, we've got to come up with something else, and this time, we can't let mom find out.

And so it begins.

Did I tell you I LOATHE April Fool's Day?

tee hee!

The proof!  See, I don't make this stuff up.  My boys truly are gross and slightly twisted!

Learned Helplessness

One of the things I have to be careful with Elliot is not allowing him to develop a learned helplessness.  This is not a unique concern for those with NLD, a nonverbal learning disorder, but probably true for most people with a disability or some form of limitation.  As loving family members, we do not want to see them struggle with anything so we are quick to do it for them, but this is the worst thing we can do.  We have to encourage them and teach them how to overcome their challenges to enable them to develop a sense of independence and self worth.  The rule is that once they have learnt something on their own, you stop doing it for them.  And so, I got to work.

Lately, Elliot has been fascinated with cooking and preparing meals so I taught him how to do a few simple things around the kitchen from heating up soup to making Kraft Dinner.  Mr. Level-Headed figures with these two tricks up his sleeve, Elliot is now ready for University . . . tee hee! 

One week, Elliot was egg crazy, and I taught him how to make hard-boiled eggs and scrambled eggs.  Here is one of the breakfasts he made for himself.  Pretty impressive!

We have had a lot of success in the kitchen, but, unfortunately, this is the only area.  Last week I fell, unknowingly, into a huge trap and have had to spend all my time since working my way out of it.  It went down like this:  Elliot was having a rough morning (don't all of my stories start out like this?) so I threw him in the shower (not literally, I promise).  After his shower, he got out and dried himself off.  Then the meltdown began.  

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!   It's cold! . . . too cold! . . . I can't go on! . . . 

and so and so on.

To help him move out of this funk and get on with the rest of his day, I rushed in and made a deal with him.  I told him to hold the towel around himself, while I put his clothes on really quickly.  This way he wouldn't feel the cold.  BIG MISTAKE!  For the rest of the week, Elliot all of a sudden was unable to dress himself after getting out of the shower, and I, like his trained servant, would rush in and take care of it.  Then one morning, Mr. Level-Headed was home when Elliot had finished his shower and called out to me:

MOM, I'm cold . . . .

As I was about to sprint into action, Mr. Level-Headed looked at me and asked:

What's this all about?

So, I told him, and as the words were coming out of my mouth, I froze . . .

What have I done?  

And now I am spending my week trying to break Elliot from this habit . . . ugh!  What's that saying, something about taking one step forward and two steps back?

And since we are on the topic of my mistakes this week, here's another goody. 

I am loving Elliot's independence in the kitchen so much that one of our favourite lunches has become Make-Your-Own-Sub.  I simply lay out all the ingredients on the counter, and voila lunch is made and the boys are happy because everything is made just as they like it.  Yesterday, after school was finished for the morning, I sat down to finally write a blog post for the week, when all of a sudden that all-to-familiar sound erupted from the basement:  Mom, when is lunch?  We are starving! 

Not wanting to break my writing stride, I quickly threw the sub ingredients out on the counter and called:

Come and get it!  

Which totally worked with our cowboy theme yesterday . . . tee hee!

As I was finishing up my post, I heard a whole lot of giggling going on, so I looked up from my computer and saw this:

Leave it to Avery to find my chocolate chip stash and think: mmmmm chocolate and salami would go nicely together . . ..

He is so much like his mama.

Well, if I don't anything else for those two boys, at least they will be able to feed themselves during their university years, and, as for Elliot, I am sure there will be a long line of lovely ladies willing to dress him after his shower . . . 

tee hee!

Hmmmm . . . maybe he is smarter than I give him credit for.

The Littlest Cowboy

Avery dreams of becoming a cowboy.

He wants a large farm, sprawling fields to ride his horses, a cowgirl by his side, and LOTS of dogs and kids (the poor cowgirl . . . tee hee!)

Yesterday was a big day for Avery because he took one giant leap towards making his dream come true and got himself a pair of cowboy boots!  Thank you Dumont family!

Check those babies out!  He is so proud of them.  He wants to sleep in them, play baseball in them, and even shower in them . . . he truly is a cowboy at heart.  

Elliot, however, is very concerned about his brother.

Avery, why are you wearing cowgirl boots?

Their cowBOY boots, Elliot!  Not cowGIRL boots!   

I don't know about that Avery, only ladies wear heels like that . . .

  

Note to self: Do not take Elliot to the Calgary Stampede . . . tee hee!

In spite of his brother's taunting, Avery is still wearing the boots and loves them to pieces.

Now to find a cowgirl . . . 

A Funny Story

Thursday night I laid down in bed and was about to drift off to sleep, when I realised I had forgotten to make up Elliot's schedule for Friday.  I tossed and turned, while debating whether or not to get up and do it, but eventually my inner procrastinator won out and I fell fast asleep.

Friday morning, the kids and I got up early and headed out to a doctor's appointment and to do some errands.  By the time we got home, everyone went off in their own direction.  Avery played pirates with his Play Mobil, Zoe and Elliot built a fort in the boys' room, and I began a sewing project.  It was a fantastic Friday afternoon!

Everything was going well until Zoe and Elliot grew bored of their fort and began pestering me about supper.

What are we having for supper, mom?

If you have no plans, can we make it?

As my sewing machine was clicking away, I tried to remember what was planned for supper, while also trying to ignore the two hovering bodies over me.  I knew I had something planned but could not for the life of me remember what it was.  Then it dawned on me; we were going to have take-out.  But why?  I usually only schedule a take-out day if we are not going to be home, and since soccer wasn't until 6pm this made no sense at all.

click click click click click . . . . the sewing machine buzzed

why oh why were we going to have take-out . . . .  my brain asked

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

I screamed and leaped from the table.

Avery!  Charlee's birthday party is right now!  We have to go!

With all the sunshine my brain had soaked up over the past three days, I had completely forgotten about Charlee's Birthday, even though her wrapped gift had been carefully placed on the counter earlier in the week so I would not forget.  Ugh!

But rather than spring into action, my kids stared at me with looks of horror and a slightly green-tinge to their complexion.  

What?!

We thought you sewed your finger or something, mom.  Don't ever scream like that again.

Oops!

 Right . . . my poor hovering, unsuspecting children were not privy to the inner dialogue that was going through my head just moments ago.

Elliot was the most visibly upset so I gave him a squeeze, and apologised.

I am really sorry, bud, for scaring you like that.

What is wrong with you today, mom?

I forgot all about Charlee's birthday party and I didn't want Avery to miss it.  Sorry.

Elliot stood there for a moment quietly, and then his face lit up:

I know what's wrong.  The schedule!  You forgot to make up today's schedule.

I think you are right, bud.

Geesh!  And they think I am the one with NLD . . . .

tee hee!

Score one for Elliot.

Here's Mr. Smarty Pants, later that evening, holding up his win for being the MVP of our first game of pick-up soccer for the season.  There will be no living with him here on out!

Have a great weekend!  Oh, and if you see Papa Skov around, wish him a Happy Birthday!!

Is March the New August?

All I can say is:

Pinch me, I must have been dreaming!

Yesterday was phenomenal!  Not only was the weather great, but Elliot was on fire.  He sprang out of bed at 6:45 ready to take on the day.  It was a dream come true; one of God's tender mercies to remind me that yes, I can do this. 



After a fantastic morning of school, the boys and I headed up to MCS so the boys could have recess with their friends.  I am so thankful for the supportive school community we have here in Kingston.

Then we came home to enjoy the 34'C weather in our own backyard.

It was magnificent!

Elliot wanted to go fishing.  And even though nothing was biting, he sat there for an hour and half, enjoying the sunshine and the calm waters.  He really needed this after the busy morning he had.

Avery, on the other hand, is always looking for some action.

First, he thought a dip in river would be fun!

A little too cold for even this monkey.

After his feet went numb, he claimed it was really relaxing.  Sure!

But Scout thought the water was just right!

Then Avery and Scout decided to explore the rocks.

But not before, Scout dried off:

He's such a cool guy!

On their hunt, Scout found a critter that wasn't too happy to see him.  There was a whole lot of barking and hissing going on, but, luckily, that was all.  Avery found a few bird feathers and a bone:

You may be wondering why Avery put his shirt back on.  Well, it was after he saw this guy flying around us:

A bat!  And according to Avery, it was a vampire bat!  So he whipped his shirt back on to prevent it from sucking his blood . . . tee hee!

As you can see, we were having a blast, but reality was calling, and it was time to head back up to the house to make supper.

Being a beautiful August-like day, I decided the first BBQ of the season was in order.

Mmmmm . . . . grilled chicken salad!  Delightful!

But, the boys were still not done with the sun.   They grabbed a beach blanket, and some paper and pencils, and my aspiring comic book artists were off:

I am so blessed to be able to spend my days with these two guys. 

Now, if only we could convince Zoe of how great homeschooling is . . .

tee hee!

The Weekend Report . . . a little late!

This weekend was rough. 

And Monday, even harder.

In Elliot's world, Saturdays mean you play soccer and you spend the rest of the day laying on the couch watching TV.  Unfortunately, his evil mom limits his screen time on Saturdays, which I have always done, but is news to him each and every Saturday (before you feel bad for him, please note that he did watch the Iron Man 2 movie, rode his bike for the first time of the year, and went to MacDonald's for lunch . . . geesh!). 

Then, to make matters worse, I informed him that we had to attend church that evening for a baptism of a woman that I have become friends with (Derrick and Zoe, my usual backups, were not home and so he had to come along).  In Elliot's world, church is on Sunday, and ONLY Sunday.  He is fine attending youth activities any other day of the week at the chapel, but once I tell him he has to put "church" clothes on and be made to sit, he loses it.  And of course, as luck would have it, none of his buddies were there, and by the time we arrived home, it was bedtime.  Double whammy!

Fast forward to Sunday, when Elliot went to church (with no fight because it was Sunday), went to his friend's house afterwards, and returned home to find Nanny and Grampy visiting.  Sounds like a great day, right? 

WRONG!

Let the melt down commence . . . .

and carry on . . .

and carry on . . .

That evening, as Derrick and I layed in bed shell shocked from the evening's multiple explosions, we discussed how we could avoid this in the future.

1.  Implement new rule:  No more "church" on Saturdays!

2.  After returning home from a friend's house, he needs to be ushered into a warm bath before being expected to deal with the humans in his family. 

Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

As you can see, we are still trying to get the hang of this thing they call NLD.  Recently, I read that the brain of a person with NLD operates at 150%  ALWAYS, which means they become overwhelmed very easily and need to have MANY breaks in day. 

Luckily, Elliot was so exhausted from his crazy weekend, that he fell right to sleep.

  Monday mornings are hard on everyone, but for Elliot, they are absolute TORTURE!  He slept in until 9:30 am.  After the evening before, there was NO way I was going to wake him.  Not only was Elliot physically tired from his weekend, but he was mentally tired so he spent the rest of the day lost in his head.  He had gone into the safety of his shell.

On days like this, I have to remind Elliot every five minutes about what he is supposed to be focused on.  Breakfast took 2 hours to complete (he finished his last bite of  kiwi at noon).  By 3 pm, he managed to practise his piano, write out his new spelling words, and make a brochure on the Hopewell Rocks for his Language Arts project on New Brunswick, and that was only with the constant prodding of his mother and MANY Lego breaks!

At 3:30 pm, I laid down on my bed, absolutely drained.

Elliot, who had been playing with his Lego ship for the past thirty minutes, popped his head up and asked:

What are we doing now, mom?

Ahhh, my boy had finally re-emerged from his shell, and was ready to take on the day.

Absolutely nothing, love! 

He was thrilled!  He screamed and ran downstairs to tell Avery, who unbeknownst to Elliot had been finished for hours.

And I, well, I decided it was time for me to curl up into the safety of my own shell. 

At least for just a little bit.

tee hee!

Good news report:  Elliot sprang out of bed this morning when his alarm clock went off at 7:30, and he is having a great day! 

He just likes to keep us on our toes.

In spite of the drama that surrounded our weekend, it really was awesome:

We celebrated this guy's third birthday:

with a MacDonald's Cheeseburger:

He was very polite with the first half.

I bow before the almighty cheeseburger.

But, by the second half, he decided he wasn't wasting anytime:

Then, on Sunday, Zoe and I enjoyed a boy-less afternoon by taking the birthday boy for a walk:

This early Spring is really spoiling us!

Have a great day, and keep your fingers crossed that mine will remain that way.

tee hee!

This Blog is Brought to you by the Letter "P"

What a sweet surprise it was yesterday to wake up and find out that school was cancelled.  The rule here at Shenanigans Inc. is that if District 6 is closed so are we, but I didn't know what to do yesterday.  We were only two days into our routine and I didn't want to abandon it even for a day since I have seen such tremendous progress in Elliot, BUT having school on a day, which was clearly slated to be a day-off, would throw him into one ginormous meltdown.  What's a girl to do?  So, I decided to cancel school but not our routines.  This was met with some resistance, but it proved to be the right decision.  We had a fabulous day!!

The kids Played.

We watched a Philm 

I know this one is a stretch, but come on, be a sport.

I made a Pirate's flag.

Avery's response was: "I can't believe you made something that cool!" . . . tee hee!

The kids made Play-doh.

And we celebrated Pi-day!

Pi equals 3.14 and so on, and yesterday's date was 3-14.  I LOVE it!!

Zoe wearing her "Pi" shirt that she received at last year's District 6 Math Competition.

Our Pi Pie for dessert . . . tee hee!

I totally stole this idea from my friend, Kate, who had a Pi supper complete with quiche and pumpkin pie.  She is so awesome!!  

  It's the little things in life that make me smile!  

Oh, and don't think you can only celebrate Pi on March 13 because it makes for a great birthday theme as well:

Zoe's cake this year. 

Hap-pi Birthday!  . . . I crack myself up . . . tee hee!

As great as the day was, bedtime was not so hot.  Elliot was agitated and freaked out (probably because of our out-of-the-ordinary day).  Eventually, we brought him into our bed, where I massaged his feet and legs, while he read a book.  An hour later, he was much calmer so I sent him back to his own bed.  Now, I see that he ended up sleeping on the couch last night, which means we are in for one very challenging day today. Please pray for me!

Okay, I will stop now . . . tee hee!

A Sappy Start Sprinkled with Some Shenanigans

All I can say is "WOW"!  

It is actually working.

For the first time in the ten, going on eleven, years I have raised Elliot, I saw my boy sit down in a chair yesterday and be at peace.  

He wasn't fidgeting.

He wasn't whining.

He wasn't talking at the speed of light.

He just sat.

There was no television on.

There was no DS in his hand.

It was just Elliot,

and he was at peace,

and, now, so is his mama.

Okay . . .  okay.  I'm sorry.  I know what you're thinking . . . enough with the sentimental garbage.  You don't come here to get all teary eyed.  You come here to see some serious shenanigans!

Forget the miracles and the weepy mama moments, what you really want to know is:

How is the pirate ship coming along?

It is amazing!

Yesterday, the boys added a new deck, the steering wheel, a mast for the flag I have not yet started (shame on me), and a plank, which I don't have a picture of because it was a late addition (shame on me again).  I am so proud of my boys!

They had to get into character for these pictures.

Here is Captain Avery, minding his own business, steering his ship into port, when all of a sudden,  Pirate Elliot leaps on board, and using his swashbuckling tactics, tries to commandeer the ship.  Look out Avery!!

Oh!  It's too late.  The pirates win again.

The pirate sword Elliot made from a broken hockey stick because
the gazillion swords he has downstairs just won.

I can't wait to see what they do with it today!

Happy Snow . . . er . . . Icy Roads Day!

tee hee!

Move over Wright Brothers . . .

Yesterday was beautiful!  And after a rough morning of trying to get into the swing of things (see here), I sent the boys outside to enjoy the warm temperatures and the sunshine.  To be honest, Spring is one of my least favourite seasons especially now that we live in the country because there is no pavement anywhere, which means all you get is mud, soggy grass, and puddles.  Yuck!  Once upon a time, a muddy puddle was the boys' best friend, but now they have matured, and they prefer to play soccer, baseball, light saber fighting and riding bikes, all of which are difficult to do in the mud (or so I hear ALL day long . . . tee hee!). 

Anyhoo, I sent them outside fully expecting to see them back in five minutes whining about how bored they are; however, much to my surprise, this did not happen.  In fact, when I looked out they were fully engrossed with a pile of wood from an old pool deck that has been sitting in our yard for what feels like a gazillion years.  Look whose whining now?  I was tempted to go out and see what they were up to, but then my senses came back to me, and I quickly made myself busy enjoying the sweet solitude of the moment. 

Mom!  Where's dad's toolbox?

Why?

We are building a pirate ship and need a hammer and nails to hold the deck together.

I really don't think that is a great idea.  I can't be out there to supervise.

Don't worry; Avery already grabbed the First Aid kit!

That's him: Mr. Responsible . . . tee hee!

What to do . . . what to do?  The responsible mom in me was screaming to put a stop to this immediately, but the indulgent mom, who was really enjoying the peace and quiet of the moment, told her to shut up and let them carry on.  It's a good learning experience!  In fact, Elliot just finished reading a book on the Wright Brothers and it was backyard projects like this that sparked their inventive spirit.  Firm in my belief that I was nurturing two, young genius minds, I allowed the boys to grab the tool box and told them to have fun.  Oh, and to be careful too, of course.

This is where the steering wheel is going.

Pretty impressive, boys!

The boys were buzzing with excitement all day and, as the day went on, their plans became more elaborate.  At some point, I was even talked into sewing the flag.  Man, those boys are smooth!   

I am so glad I didn't listen to the responsible mom.  Sure, this could have turned south real quick and you never know what injuries could occur tomorrow, but they were happy.  They were outside, they were lost in their imagination, they were working together, and more importantly, they were being kids.

After Elliot came in for supper, he came up to me and gave me a big squeeze:

Mom, thanks for being you.

Awwwwwwww!

No wonder I let those boys do whatever they want! 

tee hee!

Have a great day!

By the way, this is my 100th post!  Hip, hip hooray!!

Crisis Averted

Hallelujah! 

We survived our first day of school after a week off!  And, in spite all the odds stacked against us, we managed to do it with smiles and laughter.

But, it didn't start off that way . . . .

Daylight Savings Time is a nightmare!

Add the first day back after March Break to the mix and you have your own horror show.  Sometimes the world we live in can be downright cruel to kids.

Then, as if that wasn't enough, your mom decides that today is the perfect day to implement Phase 1 of Elliot's Anxiety Reduction Plan.  This title is simply used here for dramatic effect and is not actually used in our household.  I promise!

Mix all three together and what do you get?

One gigantic sensory overload and an enormous meltdown.

Trust me, the irony of this whole situation is not lost upon me, and since the above mentioned mishap, I have decided that Phase 2 needs to involve a lesson in timing for the mother behind all this lunacy, aka "me".

This is how we started off the morning:

It doesn't look promising does it?

I knew what we were in for today, though, so I came prepared.  The evening before, I went over the day's schedule with Elliot and familiarised him with his cue cards for our daily routines, which we hung on the pantry door.  Many of these routines are not new to him, but having them written down and displayed prevents him from becoming overwhelmed.  Rather than trying to remember all  the things he needs to do to start the day off, Elliot can now just focus on each individual task.  And it helped! Well, that is after I got him out from under the blanket.  Typically, mornings are very difficult for Elliot because all these tasks, like getting a shower, eating breakfast, getting dressed, and making your bed, get all jumbled up in his head and he doesn't know where to begin.  Hence the cocoon. 

The cue cards

School routine



supper routine - sounds crazy, but supper time is NEVER easy for Elliot.

 Welcome to Krista's militant regime . . . er, I meant to say home . . . tee hee!  It does seem over-the-top, but the books I read promise it will alleviate some of Elliot's stress.  Here's hoping!

After everyone was washed, dressed and fed, we hit the books.  The beginning of our school day went something like this:  Avery got right to work.  He LOVES the posted schedule and cue cards.  He is so funny!  But, Elliot took some prodding.  He fretted that his spelling words were too tough, he complained that he would NEVER finish all of this work, and then he cried:  "Mom, what is wrong with me?  What's my problem?". 

Right.

 Before implementing Phase 1, I needed to talk to Elliot.  I had become so caught up with how I was going to help him, and what I had to do, that I forgot to discuss the diagnosis with Elliot.  And the Worst Mother Ever Award goes to . . . . Ugh!  I felt terrible.  Mr. Level-headed and I had intended to talk with him over the March Break but we didn't.  It just never seemed like the right time.  Well, as they say: there is no time like the present.  So, I sent Avery upstairs and Elliot and I sat on the couch.  I showed him a picture of a brain and explained that the left side of his brain was stronger than his right, but that his right side can be strengthened by doing sports, playing the piano, and doing art - all things he loves to do. I explained that he processed knowledge through words and only words, which was why he found it difficult to read people's expressions and their actions.  Even though I was super positive about everything, it didn't go great.  He kept referring to it as his problem, and he was scared that no one would like him anymore.  I assured him this was not the case, and I talked a lot about Mr. Level-headed's dyslexia and how it didn't stop him from having friends, going to university, and so on.  Then Avery came down, and Elliot told him.  He was relieved that it didn't change Avery's opinion of him (I am sure Avery had NO idea what he was talking about anyway).  Luckily, it was break time, so I sent him and Avery outside (more about that tomorrow).  It is amazing what a beautiful spring morning can do for one's attitude.   He came in chipper and eager to get to work.  Excuse me, who are you and what have you done with my son . . . .

After completing all of his work for the day, Elliot laughed:

 Do you know what mom?  My problem isn't so bad.  It just means that my friends will now have to talk to me all smartific-like, or I won't understand them.

Why is that Elliot?

Well, because I have this HUGE brain.

Yes, you do my, love.  Yes, you do!

My Favourite Kind of Mornings

It is 8 am.  The house is quiet and dark.  Both boys are still sleeping, exhausted from all the late nights, the playdates, and the significant lack of veggies in our diet this past week.  I can hear the rain tapping on my bedroom window, and I think to myself this is the moment I have been waiting for all week.  

I brew a cup of peppermint tea in my favourite mug,

I grab a "fun" book, one without NLD in the title,

and tuck myself back into bed:

Aaahhhh!  This is the life.

Happy rainy Friday, everyone!

Feeling Creative

The boys and I were feeling pretty creative yesterday. 

I finished my first of many March Break sewing projects:

A Spring skirt for me.  Zoe's is next.

Elliot created his own version of the Heroscape game:

And Avery . . .

well, let's just say that Avery's craft is making people laugh.  Yesterday, the boys and I had a movie and lunch date with Mr. Level-Headed.  While Derrick, Elliot and I placed our orders at Subway, Avery found us a seat:

Ha! Ha!  What a monkey!  He didn't even realize I was standing in front of him taking this picture.

 As for Zoe, she is being creative on the slopes of Mont Farlagne for the rest of the week, and we miss her dearly.  I am sure she is missing us too . . . tee hee!

Enjoy your day!