Foreign Languages

Last night, Clark & I were in our bedroom playing when Daddy brought Parker in. We were all laying on the bed and Clark turned on the stereo that's in our room and pressed the play button on the cd player. It happens to be a "Learn Greek" cd.

It starts up with a conversation in Greek. Clark climbs back on the bed and sits and listens to it for a second then says, "Aloha!"

My Birthday

My birthday was a few weeks ago. I think it's safe to say it was the best birthday I've had in a long time, possibly ever. We've been low on money lately, so Jeff wasn't sure he'd be able to find anything to buy me. I told him I'd set aside some money from groceries that he could have, but then my parents ended up giving him money to take me to dinner and buy me something nice.

Friday: Jeff and I went to dinner by ourselves. Jamie & Stepe watched the boys for us. Afterwards, we went to Kmart (because we had $95 in gift cards) to do some Christmas shopping. The only thing we bought was a Christmas tree for $120. We brought it home and set it up immediately since Clark has been enthralled with Christmas lights this year (yes, people had them up before Thanksgiving.) We played games that night and then I got to sleep in Saturday morning.

Saturday: I woke up to feed Parker at 6:30a and there was a big box with a bow on it on the kitchen table. After we nursed, I checked it and it was a programmable crock pot (yay!). And the sweetest card Jeff's ever given me. He actually wrote in it this time. Although he just left it open with the pen over it, too. At least it's slightly better than a blank card stuck in the envelope but not sealed "in case you want to use it again". I slept for the better part of the day and then got ready to go to dinner with my parents and Jamie & Stepe at the Indian restaurant (haha, I finally figured out how to spell restaurant right!) We just played Mario Wii all night after that.

Sunday: I asked Jeff how much money my parent's had given him and it was quite a bit, so I ordered a new jacket for myself from Old Navy. And they were having a nice sale so I also bought a pair of jeans and a pair of jersey lined cargo pants. And then I felt bad for sleeping in on my birthday, so Clark and I went out to the garage and brought in all the Christmas decorations. I let him decorate the tree while I nursed Parker. All the decorations were about knee-midthigh level and on the same two branches. I put some up on the top part and got him a stool so he could get the middle of the tree. It looks pretty if I may say so. Clark keeps playing with the candy canes. Probably not the best idea to have a candy themed tree. He just wants to eat/pretend eat everything.

So, I consider this a great birthday because I got exactly what I wanted. This never happens. I usually tell Jeff exactly what I want and I never get it. I get something completely different or, better yet, nothing. And I got to sleep in. Very nice.

Headlines

These headlines were on MSN tonight:
"Woman Leaves $40k at Holy Site for Virgin Mary to Watch"
and then right underneath it:
"Are we dumber after 53?"

That makes me laugh.

ABC's

♪A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z♫
next time-I know-A-B-Cs, yes sir, yes sir, three bags full!

Halloween aka Trick or Treat Night

Freakin' A!

This weekend, Jeff flew to Chicago for Skeeter's surprise birthday party. Before he left on Friday, we took Parker to his 2 month check up and we went to the pumpkin patch. I started feeling crappy at the pumpkin patch. Both boys slept on the way home, so I knew I wouldn't be able to sneak in a nap with them. By the next day, I was either freezing or sweating to death with a really bad sore throat, a cranky-just-vaccinated baby and a very rambuctious 2 year old. I called my mom to see if she could watch them while I went to urgent care. I was diagnosed with strep throat. Fun. We all lived through the weekend.

Tonight I was eating ice cream (which I had been avoiding because even cold things hurt to swallow) and realized that it felt really good going down. I threw my head back in pleasure and said to the ceiling, "Freakin A!"

Clark looks up at the ceiling and says, "A up there?!"

Alumni Band Night

Last night was our high school's homecoming game. As has become a tradition, the band director invites all the alumni to come out and play with the band in the stands and on the field at half time. We decided this would be a good year to do it. We 'invited' my parents to come along to watch the boys so we'd both be able to play.

We got there around 5:45pm to start practicing. We went through all the music then went out to the parking lot to practice the field show. It actually just consisted of the band standing in three row then marching onto the field into a straight line and then two arcs. Pretty easy.

Around 6:30pm, my parents showed up with the boys. Clark had just woken up from his nap and had a bath. He was a little overwhelmed by all the people. We tried to show him all the cool instruments but he didn't seem to care. Until he saw the drummers heading out to practice in the parking lot.

He grabbed my hand and pulled me after them. We stood and watched as they practiced first just the quads then a few snares came over and then a bass drum. You'd think the boy was in heaven.

I took him back into the band room and showed him a bass drum (that he wouldn't touch at first) and then the timpanis. He thought those were awesome. When I tried to take him back outside to show him the band lined up to march to the stadium, he threw a fit.

Just like it was when we were in high school, the band marches from the band room over to the stadium in two lines. We lined up and started marching. The director gave the drummers permission to play the cadence...Clark started jumping up and down and screaming. He thought it was the greatest thing ever. After they stopped, he could be heard singing the Superman theme song.

As we marched past the opposing team practicing in the field, we 'cheered', "Beat the Eagles!" We didn't do that in high school but I can imagine that has to be a little unnerving to hear the band chanting that as they march past you.

We got onto the field and played the fight song as the team ran through us and then the national anthem. We got into the stands and I think for the first time, I actually watched a high school football game. I have no idea what I did when I was in high school but it did not include actually watching the game.

Clark was enamored with the 'bird'. Our school's mascot is a Honker. Don't ask.

We finally got the boys home at 10:00pm. Clark was rubbing his eyes in the car and saying he wanted to take a nap. Parker was out like a light as soon as he started nursing. As Daddy was putting Clark to bed, he asked, "Did you have fun tonight?"

After Clark replied, Jeff asked, "What instrument does Daddy play?"
"Tuba!"
"And what instrument does Mommy play?"
"Clar-net"
"And what instrument does Clarky play?"
"Drums!"

Best Conversation Ever

After Clark throws something across the room and Daddy puts him in time out:

Daddy-"You were in timeout because you were throwing things in the house. Are you allowed to throw things in the house?"
Clark-"Yeah!"
Daddy-"Clark, we do not throw things in the house. Are you allowed to throw things in the house?"
Clark-"Yeah!"
Daddy-"Clark, you are not allowed to throw things in the house. Are you?"
Clark-"yeah?"
Daddy-"Repeat after me: I...cannot...throw things....in the house."
Clark-"I...cannot...flow things....in house."
Daddy-"Are you allowed to throw things in the house?"
Clark-"YEAH!"

As soon as that was all cleared up, he picked up a tennis ball and threw it!