Etiquette 101

I took Jack and Joshua to swimming tonight.  Joshua doesn't actually start his lessons until next month but he likes to tag along and eat fruit snacks while Jack does all the work.  As the night progressed, it occurred to me that we have some work to do in the etiquette department.  How do I know this?  

Clue #1

Just before hopping into the pool, Jack announced he had to go potty.  As he was walking toward the bathroom, all I saw was his little white butt staring me in the face.  Apparently, waiting until you actually get to the bathroom to pull down your pants is entirely inefficient.

Clue #2

I was helping Jack dry his swimsuit and turned around to find Joshua on his knee's peering under a changing room door.  He was flirting with the little girl on the other side - "Hi in there.  What chyou doing in there?"

Clue #3

The post-swim showers are located around the pool and are very open for all to see.  Since Jack is the big five, he insists on washing himself and does a great job of it.  Normally, he washes his tummy, hair, armpits, etc. but tonight, much to my surprise, he decided the boy bits needed a good washing as well... in front of his 50 closest friends.  Hey, why not?  They are skin too. 

It's amazing to me how innocent and care free these little guys are.  When a teachable moment pops up that allows me to explain proper etiquette, they only ask "but why Mommy?"  Good question - the world should be a little more carefree.  We should all feel free to show our little white butts.  Ok - maybe not that but I know there is some kind of lesson here for us grown-ups to take away as well.

Weekend with Grandpa

Grandpa came to town this past weekend to celebrate little J’s 1^st Birthday and what a treat it was for us to spend the weekend with him.  We kicked off the festivities on Friday night with dinner out at Doolittle’s Woodfire Grill.  Mom indulged in a glass… er, make that two glasses, of red wine while Grandpa and Dad enjoyed some good ‘ol fashioned martini’s.  Cece joined in on the fun as well but volunteered to be our sober cab (thanks Cece!) And true to the long-standing, first birthday tradition, she brought freshly cooked corn on the cob to the restaurant for little Jamison to indulge in for the first time.  Now, a normal family might find bringing your own steaming hot cobs to a restaurant strange, but not us, we are used to strange.  Cece carefully divvied out the corn to the boys and they were loving it!  Our trusty waitress spotted the corn and her reaction was priceless.  If you could read her mind it would have said “wth – where did the corn come from… I didn’t know we had corn - wth.”  We explained the corn history and I’m pretty sure she thought we were crazier than even originally thought.

After dinner, we went home and dug into the best cake on earth.  The Keys Café house chocolate cake…. OMG!  If you’ve never had it – hit the road and drive north until you hit Heaven!  

Since Jack doesn’t like cake of the chocolate variety, he was hard at work creating the perfect nest for Grandpa’s abode.  The only part we helped with was the bed and Jack did the rest – including the bedding, pillows, just the right book, remote control, and get this… Jack’s beloved family to keep him company!  He gave up penguin AND his favorite blankets that he’s been sleeping with since he was a baby.  Could this kid be any sweeter!?!  His thoughtfulness almost brought me to tears.

We all awoke bright n’ early Saturday thanks to our little morning birds.  No time to waste so we headed out to Target first thing and bought Mom some toys – a new bike and a child bike carrier.  Unfortunately, the 5 INCHES of rain this weekend didn’t allow for a leisurely bike ride but it’s all set to go in the event we ever have a nice day.  We also hit Sam’s Club, Party City and took Jack to his buddy’s Birthday party at Pump it Up.  After a much needed nap by all (except Mom… hey, what’s the deal here?), we headed to the Mall to do a little shopping and grab some dinner.  Yes, two dinners out (and another two glasses of wine) in a row.  What a treat!!!  The boys clearly enjoyed it too because they were absolute angels – we were so proud of them.

Grandpa headed out early Sunday morning and we were sad to see him go.  Thanks for coming Grandpa!  We didn’t have long to be sad because we had the big birthday party to prepare for.  More to come on that…

Forest Green Crocodiles-4, Purple People Eaters-2

Woot, woot!  We have a soccer ringer on our hands!!!  Jack's team, the Forest Green Crocodiles, beat the Purple People Eaters by a score of 4 - 2 tonight.  Doesn't sound like a big deal, right?  Wrong!  Jack scored a whopping 3 of the 4 goals!  Now I'm not one to brag about my kids (ok, there might be just an unintentional hint of that in my writings), but this kid is seriously GOOD.  He had several breakaways and drove the ball all the way into the net.  And let me tell ya, he's very modest about his mad skills.  Well, we may need to work on that a bit.

Modest or not, the following picture definitely goes down as one of my top favs.  Jack's pose is one for the books but there are a couple of other honorable mentions as well.  Like the little guy behind him with his hands down his pants.  How cute is he?  Or the sassy little red-head.  What exactly is she thinking?  "That's it, I've had enough of this guy, I need to take him DOWN!"  Or "hey blondie, you're good, wanna share a juice box later?" (that one courtesy of Auntie Sarah).  Actually, every kid in the photo has quite the personality.  Love it!

Grandmama, Grandpa Bill, and CeCe were even present to witness the big hat-trick.

Whether he scores one goal, no goals, or 5 goals, we are so proud of our little forest green Beckham!

On a side note - Sorry to my little Moshi and Jamison.  When you are older and able to read this, please know that we love you just as much as your eldest brother - It just happens to be an eventful Jack week.  You're time will come, we promise!

So What Happened with the Pink Shirt?

He did it!  He wore the pink shirt all day!  I had to carry him into his classroom but once he got in there, he realized no one made fun of him.  AND Jackson was wearing his pink shirt too - whew!!  

When I picked him up I asked "how was the pink shirt today?"  He responded with "Mommy, eeevvverybody loved my pink shirt.  And I love it too."

Yes!  One check for the pink team, er, I mean blue... ok, the pink-wearing blue team!

Real Men Wear Pink!

I bought the most adorable pink shirt for Jack a few weeks ago and he would rather leave the house buck naked than put this hot little number on.  I managed to convince him to wear it on Mother's Day by using the "ohhh... honey, it would mean SO much to Mommy on my special day if you wore your pink shirt." I know, not really fair to use that card, but it worked!  He begrudgingly threw the shirt on for his dear old Mom - who he clearly loves very much to endure this pain.

Fast forward a few weeks.  Every morning as I pick out his daily attire, I spot that awesome pink shirt staring me in the face.  Today I plucked it out of the closet and casually handed it to Jack - "there you go honey, get dressed please."  He happened to be watching Backyardigans so my hope was he'd be so enthralled that he wouldn't even notice the chosen duds.  

Jack: "I AM NOT WEARING THIS TODAY... none of the boys in my class wear pink!!!"  

Mom: "That's not true - Jackson has a pink shirt and the two of you are the coolest kids in the class.  Oh, and Jackson's Dad wears pink too, and Daddy, and Steve (my co-worker)."

Jack: "Mommy, I'm not talking about Daddy's, I'm talking about kids!"

Mom: "Oh, pardon me."

Silence

Silence

Silence

Mom: "I will pay you $1 to wear your pink shirt today." (That's right, I'm not afraid to bribe my kid in the name of fashion.)

Jack: "No, thanks."

Silence

Silence

Mom: "Ok, how about $5?"

Silence

Silence

(Now we're cooking... he's thinking about it!!!)

Silence

Silence

Jack: "Ok, deal!"

Mom: "Cool, throw it on and I'll getchya your money (said like we were making a deal in a very dark back alley.)"

The wearing of the pink shirt had become more of a mission than anything - a battle of the stubborns, maybe.  No, I don't think so.  The real deal is I don't want my kids to have the silly gender color bias' and somehow this pink shirt has come to represent the gender breakdown.  Or maybe I'm just in desperate need of a little pink in my life.  Probably a combination of all three...

Anyway, as we were heading out the door I turn around to see Jack stripping down.

Mom: "What are you doing?"

Jack: "You can just have your money back because I am NOT wearing this to school today!"

Mom: "You win love, you win."

I happened to run into Jackson's Dad this afternoon.  I mentioned that I used him, and his confident, pink wearing son, as leverage while attempting some heavy duty convincing.  He immediately devised a brilliant plot to tell both boys that it's pink day tomorrow and they should both wear their shirts and match (apparently, Jackson doesn't just throw on his pink with no objections either!)  They both got extremely jazzed about the prospect of "matching" for the day and practically signed on the dotted line - if there had been a dotted line they surely would have signed. 

We'll just see what actually happens in the morning when it comes to putting on "the shirt"...

If you took a sip of beer every time I said "pink" in this post, congratulations, you are drunk by now!

Crocs... Friend or Foe?

Before the little J's came along I SWORE my kids would never wear Crocs.  I watched our 3 nephews run around in them and seriously contemplated "what the hell is the draw of these strange little rubber shoes with a bunch of holes in them?"  Rubber boots, I get.  Rubber gloves, sure.  But rubber shoes... entirely rubber shoes?  Yuk!  

Much to my own surprise, I bit the bullet back in 2008 when I bought a pair for Jack after realizing there must be something to this Croc craze.  Although I still think they are ridiculously hideous, they've become a summer staple in our house because nothing is easier to throw on and run around the yard in.  

Today we made our annual trip to the Croc store at the Mall of America.  It took about an hour to pick the perfect Crocs and of course the Jibits that would go on top to doll 'em up a bit.  Boy oh boy... this is the heaviest decision my boys make all year, let me tell you!  They can each pick four, 2 for each shoe, and you would think they were choosing their future wife.  

Joshua finally settled on Uniqua (a sassy little pink gal from the Backyardigans - he wanted pink Crocs, so this was a good compromise), Lightning McQueen, Woody, and Buzz Lightyear.  Jack settled on a soccer ball, the number 5 (because he's five, of course), Lightning McQueen, and the Cars Fire Truck (who's name escapes me.)  Jamison will have to wait because even though those Jibits are nearly impossible to squeeze through those little holes, he will surely figure out a way to get it free and eat it.  

$109 later we headed out the door.  $109 on Crocs!!!  What has the world come to?

We had worked up quite the appetite after our Croc adventure so I treated the boys to lunch at the Rainforest Cafe.  Not that I ever want my children to be afraid of anything, but Joshi being slightly scared of the very large singing gorilla's was a beautiful thing.  Chatty Kathy barely spoke a word the entire lunch.  He was far too busy watching these big furry creatures - just to be sure they weren't coming to get him.  I so enjoy a good date with my boys!

Deeps Thoughts on Vegetables - By Jack

"Vegetables are important because... 

Carrots help you see in the dark.  

Beets make you strong.  

And broccoli makes you poop."

Some very good wisdom we should all live by!

Alas... Park Time!

Dad had some things to do around the house, without the fleet of little boys around, so we decided to pack up and head out to the park for a while.  Beautiful Saturday afternoon, perfect, especially since it's been so stinking cold!  Jack hopped on his new bike (aka: the Rattlesnake) while Jamison and Joshie got cozy in the Radio Flyer.  

The park isn't too far away but there is a very large hill we have to go up and as it usually goes, a big hill to go down on the other side.  We were quite the comedy act making our way over this hill and I'm pretty sure we got a couple of chuckles by passersby.  Since Jack is new at this bike thing, he hasn't quite figured out how to keep up the momentum as he climbs a hill.  His speed declined to a crawl and before I knew it I was pushing him up the hill while pulling wagon train.  It was excellent exercise!  

We spent a good amount of time at the park and didn't miss an inch of the fun.  We hit the slides.

And the swings...

 Drove a little blue car (poor Jamison)...

Ran like the wind.

And even stopped to smell the roses dandelions on the way home.

Lots of firsts for Jamison on this day - first wagon ride, first slide, first rubber swing, and first unsuccessful drivers ed.  He loved every minute of it!  We ALL did!