sometimes i wonder where he comes up with it all...

So, I was in my room the other morning cleaning my closet up a little when in walks Milo, carrying a toy fishing pole, very proud of himself.

Milo: Mommy look, the fishing pole was broken but I fixed it! You know how I could fix it?

Me: How Milo?

Milo: Because I'm a boy and boys can fix things.

Me: Oh really? Well what can girls do?

(after a short pause which seemed to either be a choose-your-words-wisely pause, or a i-can't-think-of-an-answer pause)

Milo: Girls can do dishes.

Yep. Milo. One of a kind that kid.

oh those monkeys

So I woke up the other day to Mason and Milo talking in my closet. The problem with this noise is that I had spend the last three days trying to get Milo to help pick up ALL my shirts he had decided to pull off and throw on the closet floor. So my first comment was for them to not play in my closet...The response I got?

"Just a minute Mom, we're trying to make you something."

Well of course, I'm still a mom, so I will gladly agree to let them hang out in my closet if in return I will get to enjoy some child-made gift.

Here is what they made for me...

In case you aren't proficient on creative handmade boy gifts, these are flowers for me - made from their monkeys...what a bunch of sillies I have!

Milo, Milo, Milo...

Sometimes I feel bad for Milo. It seems like he's always getting the short end of the stick. From the day he was born he was stuck with hand-me-down blanket, clothing & toys. And it doesn't just end with using Mason's old stuff...Mason always has had his solo time (like the date we went on) or he gets to pick things first and Milo ends up getting talked into the other option. I explain this because once again I feel like he's been left a little behind. The problem (or lack of) is that he has never cared. Because that is Milo.

See, Milo celebrated his birthday September 9th. And yes, I know - most parents have big long blogs when their children have a birthday. Well, this year Milo's birthday happened to be the day before my trip. So I never really got the chance to sit down and write my Milo tribute. But in not writing it on time I almost feel like that makes it all the more Milo. Because Milo is one of the happiest, most unconcerned silly little boys I know. Everywhere he goes, everyone he meets, it seems like I hear comments about how funny he is and how much everyone loves him. I try to pin down what he does that makes him so loveable sometimes but it's hard to figure exactly what it is. He is goofy. He is messy. He is random. Erik used to say he was a little on the ditzy side. No matter what he does he seems to always be making someone laugh. Just within the last week Milo has done the following things: asked me why animals make different noises and why do we talk different than them, while in the middle of class at preschool he took off his shoes and started dancing to the music his teacher had put on, he told me (after I said he needed to hurry and eat lunch before he left for school) that he had to feed Jack "or else he will get hungry while I'm at school" and sat down and introduced himself to a random couple at an ice cream place. The best thing about all these examples is that each and every time he is so serious. He never seems to think anything he does is out of the ordinary.

So yes, this blog may be a little slow coming - but so is Milo anytime you try to walk somewhere with him. Happy fourth year Milo!

Milo being Milo, of course!

Mason showing Milo the present he got him...

...a new monkey!

And Mason being the helpful big brother.

awww....

In case no one knew, I just love my boys. Growing up I was a totally girly-girl, so boys weren't really my first pick - but I'm so glad I have them. If I had girls I'd have no one to go on dates with and no one to open all my doors (Mason even opens my car door for me when I get out of the car). And not that I need more reasons, but I recently got a few pictures to show just a glimpse of why I do...

First, here's Milo being Milo. Oftentimes I am driving, listening to the radio and whatnot - and I suddenly tune into the back seat. There's Milo quietly talking away to whatever he happens to have brought along for the ride that day. This day I turned around and saw what is pictured below. I love it for one because of his funny stuffed animal - a ferret he immediatly named Jack (why I'm not quite sure). The other reason is because Jack is buckled up in the middle seat belt. His animals always ride safely - more often than not they are actually buckled up in his seatbelt with him. And to top it all off, he has his little arm around his pal. All this I saw when I turned around - what a silly kid.


Then a couple of days later I go into Mason's room to get his PJ's out and I find what is pictured below in the middle of his floor. Well, he does love cars so I figure this is just pretty funny. Then after he gets out of the shower and comes downstairs I inquire about it. After asking if he made it he responds, with a big smile, "Yes, its a heart, I made it for you because I love you." Oh man - what would I do if I didn't have such a sweetie around to say nice things and compliment me all the time? Yes, he also gives compliments. He tells me frequently how much he loves me and how I'm the best mommy ever (i've tricked him well). He also told me the other night that he wants to marry me when he gets older - and although that will obviously not work, I've always heard about kids saying stuff like that so I figure with that phrase my life is pretty much complete.

And there you have it. Silliness and compliments - who doesn't love that?

Hello School

So I survived!

I only include me the statement because I don't think it was really something Mason or Milo worried about at all. Carpool is fine (no kids forgotten yet), Mason loves having two recesses and a lunch at school. Such little things to excite children...the other thing Mason is loving about school is the fact that he has a brand new alarm clock that wakes him up each morning. Oh, if only these things could be so exciting when he gets older (I will try my hardest to remind him just how much he loved them, but I don't think it will weigh in very well in the teenage years).

And through this whole first week of school here's my favorite memory...

The first day I took the traditional "first day" picture, as seen here:

That night I FINALLY cut the boys hair - something that had needed to be done weeks prior. The next morning as Mason was leaving for school his thought was this..."Mom, can you take another picture of me? That way I can have one with my haircut." (He thought his hair looked too messy the first day.) I think he's such a funny kid, the way he thinks about things I wouldn't even think about. So here's the second "first day" picture:

my hot date

So I was asked out on a date for tonight. The plan started out as dinner at Tepanyaki and a movie. Well, the movie my date wanted to see (Space Chimps) was not playing anywhere so we had to come up with a Plan B. My date suggested we go to the mall.

"Why the mall?" I asked.

"Because there's an arcade there," he replied.

"But there is no where to eat there," I said.

"Yes there is, there's that Wendy's place - or whatever it's called. We can just eat there."

So I came up with a Plan C. Lovely Boondocks. A little classier than the mall arcade and "Wendy's" (although I think he was referring to Chik-fil-a) - but not much. Although I do think I saw a few other daters there. So we had pizza for dinner, played a couple rounds of miniature golf, drove the bumper boats and of course - played the arcade games. And I must say, although I seemed to have a slow streak, my date was having a very lucky night - raking in exactly 1000 tickets by the end. We tried to take some cheesy (although I admit I love them) photo booth pictures but the machine wasn't working. So here is the one shot I got of our date.

I think he's pretty handsome anyway. And he opened doors for me, held my hand - and I even got a good night kiss! Now I just need to work on getting him to pay.

While driving home a few nights ago...

Milo: Mom?

Me: Yes Milo

Milo: Will I stay little forever?



Oh I wish - then I would be able to hear these funny questions forever.

its a miracle!

What? Can it be? Two posts in two days? I must have gone mad. Or bored. Actually I am neither (at least I'm pretty sure I'm not mad). I just wanted to share a few pictures from our day at the Children's Discovery Gardens.

Mason and Milo's cousins, Emma and Leora, came to visit from Washington. And yes, Mason is giving bunny ears to the bear statue.

Mason keeping a cool head.

My mom and Leora (whom Milo refers to as La-Lora)

So many pretty flowers at the Gardens!

the nutty boys

So a while back I gave an example of why I call my kids monkeys. These last couple of days I've been reminded once again. I thought I would share some of these little reminders so everyone could experience.

Exhibit A: Mason scratches his leg.

As with most injuries, it seems like they just don't capture the same on camera. But the idea is there. Mason likes to do very crazy things on his bike. He does wheelies, rides down front porch steps, jumps curbs, jumps ramps (sometimes putting objects on one side to jump over) & tries to balance along the curb on his bike. Needless to say he's had a few accidents. His latest happend two days ago. The funny thing about him is that I never even knew this crash happened until he was done playing for the night. He said to me, "Mom, I fell down on my bike and look what happened." I asked him when it happened and he replied, "Oh, a little while ago." Either he's really tough or he just loves to play so much he couldn't be bothered to take care of it. Probably a little of both.

Exhibit B: Milo rolls

This is probably one of the funniest things I've ever captured on video. Milo is always the comedian and I don't think he even realizes it, which makes it all the more hilarious. What made it more funny was the fact that this was the third time it had happened. The first two times I wasn't ready for it, but by the third time I thought I'd get the camera out just in case. I fully expected that after two times down the hill Milo would have rememebered what had happened and try to prevent it. Well, that's Milo for you - he's just thinking of the moment at hand, so carefree and happy all the time.

Happy Birthday Mason!

Today Mason officially turned the big SIX. Here are some things that happened today to remind me that he is getting older and more, I guess you could say mature.

This morning I missed a call on my cell phone from my mom. She wanted me to call her back she she could wish Mason a happy birthday. I just handed the phone to Mason and told him to call her. No problem. It's not that he hasn't been doing this for a long time, its just that it still makes me laugh at how easy he maneuvers the cell phone (and all other electronic devices).

After lunch we planned to see the movie Kung Fu Panda with some family. We got to the theater and the most excited words out of Mason's mouth were, "Hey, Indiana Jones! I want to watch that movie." The cartoon about cute animals that fight the bad guy just wasn't as exciting to him as I thought it would be. (Milo however did like the movie.)

For his birthday we went to dinner (Mason's choice of course) with just us. As the boys were waiting for me to make some phone calls before we left they started drawing some pictures. When Mason finished he handed me a folded paper and asked me to take it to the restaurant and give it to him after dinner. There was a beautiful picture with a blue sky, sun and car driving along. Inside the card said something like, "To Mason - I love you - love mom" (all spelled correctly this time). So basically Mason made me a card to give to him for his birthday. What a funny kid.

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY MASON! You are officially old enough to start first grade, strong enough to pour your own milk & mature enough to take care of your mom. -- Now if only we could get you to stop shooting your straw wrappers at everyone :)

exhibit one: the monkey

I just wanted to post a sampling of what makes me refer to our boys as monkeys on a regular basis.

reason #1 - Milo loves bananas.